珍珠奶茶 (zhēnzhū nǎichá): bubble tea

Measure Word

一杯珍珠奶茶 bēi

Meanings

1 bubble tea
2 pearl milk tea
3 boba tea

Characters

Examples

HSK 5

我要一杯珍珠奶茶，半糖少冰。

Wǒ yào yì bēi zhēnzhū nǎichá, bàn táng shǎobīng.

I'd like a bubble tea, half sugar, less ice.

HSK 5

她每天下午都要点一杯珍珠奶茶。

Tā měitiān xiàwǔ dōu yào diǎn yì bēi zhēnzhū nǎichá.

She orders a bubble tea every afternoon.

HSK 7-9

珍珠奶茶最早起源于台湾。

Zhēnzhū nǎichá zuì zǎo qǐyuán yú Táiwān.

Bubble tea originated in Taiwan.

Tips

culture

Invented in Taichung in the 1980s. The "pearls" (珍珠) are tapioca balls; the common slang shorthand is 奶茶 or the loanword 波霸 / 波霸奶茶.

Stroke Order

珍 zhēn

珠 zhū

奶 nǎi

茶 chá

Related Words

丝袜奶茶 sīwà nǎichá

Hong Kong-style milk tea ('pantyhose milk tea')

珍珠 zhēnzhū HSK 5 #7,081

guinea fowl chicks / young guinea fowl for breeding

奶茶 nǎichá HSK 3 #31,250

milk tea

甜茶 tiánchá

sweet tea (Tibetan milk-and-sugar tea) / sweet-leaf tea (Rubus suavissimus, 甜叶茶) / Guangxi sweet tea

奶盖 nǎigài

milk foam topping (on bubble tea/cheese tea) / cream cap

奶皮 nǎipí

milk skin (the film that forms on heated milk) / urum (Mongolian clotted milk skin dairy snack)

普洱茶 pǔěrchá

Pu'er tea / pu-erh tea (fermented tea from Yunnan)

青茶 qīngchá

oolong tea (alternate name for 乌龙茶) / semi-oxidized tea, one of the six classical Chinese tea categories