Emergency calls in China: 110, 119, 120 and a location card

Know which urgent help you need

For a mainland China trip, save three numbers: 110 for police, 119 for fire, and 120 for medical emergencies. Shanghai’s official emergency guide identifies these functions for China. The practical reporting details below come from that Shanghai guide; they are not a promise that every city has identical dispatch arrangements. This guide does not cover Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan. [1]

Use 110 when an urgent situation requires police assistance, including a criminal threat. Use 119 to report a fire; Shanghai also lists critical rescue incidents, including building collapses. Use 120 for a medical emergency, not a routine appointment. Tell the operator what is happening rather than trying to make a diagnosis or decide every agency that might be needed. [1]

Make the location usable

Shanghai’s guidance asks callers to provide the location and contact details. For a fire report it specifically names the street, alley, house number and nearby landmarks; for 120 it says to give a detailed address. A hotel’s English brand alone is a poor preparation: build a location card with its Chinese name and full address before going out. [1]

The following is a suggested communication checklist, not an official dispatch script. Start with the service needed and your current location. Give city, district, street and building number, then the entrance, floor or room where relevant. Add a visible landmark. If you are away from your hotel, do not read the hotel address as though you are there. Ask nearby staff to help identify the actual place.

Next describe what you can observe: a fire, someone injured, or a person threatening you. Say how many people appear affected and whether anyone is trapped, if known. Give your name and a callback number that can reach you. Shanghai’s fire guidance asks about trapped or injured people, requests contact details, and tells callers to answer the responder’s questions accurately. Do not invent details you cannot establish. [1]

If you cannot speak Chinese

Ask for English, but keep a fallback ready. Shanghai explicitly lists English among the languages available on its 110 hotline and says its 119 hotline is available in English. Those are Shanghai-specific statements, not evidence of universal English coverage or immediate interpreter access elsewhere. This article makes no nationwide language-service guarantee. [1]

Show a nearby staff member or other willing Chinese speaker one of these suggested phrases. The Chinese characters are not repeated on this English page: switch to the Chinese version of this page to show these phrases to staff. Each line also gives an approximate pinyin transliteration so you can say it aloud. Do not delay an urgent call just to perfect a translation:

• “Please help me call 110. I need police.” — pinyin: qing bang wo bo da yao yao ling, wo xuyao jingcha bangzhu (yao yao ling is the usual spoken form of 110).
• “There is a fire. Please call 119.” — pinyin: zhuohuo le, qing bo da yao yao jiu (yao yao jiu is the usual spoken form of 119).
• “Please call 120. Someone needs emergency medical help.” — pinyin: qing bo da yao er ling, you ren xuyao jijiu (yao er ling is the usual spoken form of 120).
• “I don’t speak Chinese. Can you speak English?” — pinyin: wo bu hui shuo Zhongwen, qingwen keyi shuo Yingyu ma.

Save this offline location card

Keep a screenshot and a paper copy. Fill the blanks with real information; ask accommodation staff to check the Chinese address. Update the current-location section as you move. To hand the card to someone who reads no English, use the Chinese version of this page: it carries the same card with Chinese field labels, ready to show or copy.

• Current location: ____
• City + district: ____
• Chinese street address (write it in Chinese characters): ____
• Building, entrance, floor: ____
• Nearby landmark: ____
• What happened: ____
• Name + callback number: ____
• Accommodation address (not necessarily your current location): ____

Emergency dispatch is not routine travel support

For an ordinary booking problem, directions or a routine appointment, start with the relevant provider or accommodation staff. Shanghai lists 12345 as a government-service hotline; do not treat that listing as a substitute for emergency dispatch. The emergency guide warns against using 119 for minor issues that drain urgent-response resources. [2] [1]

Follow the responder’s instructions and report changes. If someone guides responders to an entrance, do so only when safe. This is a communication aid, not medical or legal advice. It promises neither arrival times, treatment outcomes, fees, insurance reimbursement nor a particular police response.