This article serves as a primer to Mandarin Chinese mainly for chemical practitioners who have no familiarity with the Mandarin Chinese language and who may travel to East Asia during their career or work in collaboration with Chinese-speaking people. Eight vocabulary lists (given in English, written Chinese, and Pinyin romanization) feature groups of related chemical and otherwise practical terms; the commonalities among these terms are discussed. Five Chinese terms in particular are emphasized throughout the article to aid learning. Mandarin Chinese names of the chemical elements are also provided; many of these names also reveal language patterns. (Contains 2 figures, 8 tables, and 5 notes.)