美团

měituán: 美团 - Meituan (Super-App for Local Services)

Quick Summary

  • Keywords: Meituan, 美团, Měituán, Chinese food delivery app, China super app, Dianping, Meituan Waimai, what is Meituan, order food in China, local services app China, book hotels China, buy movie tickets China.
  • Summary: Meituan (美团) is the indispensable Chinese “super-app” for daily life, combining the functions of DoorDash, Yelp, Uber, Expedia, and Fandango into one powerful platform. While best known for its iconic yellow-clad food delivery army, Meituan is a one-stop shop for nearly any local service imaginable, from ordering groceries and booking movie tickets to finding hotels and reviewing restaurants. For anyone living in or visiting China, understanding and using Meituan is essential for navigating the modern, hyper-convenient digital landscape.

Core Meaning

  • Pinyin (with tone marks): Měituán
  • Part of Speech: Proper Noun
  • HSK Level: N/A
  • Concise Definition: Meituan is a major Chinese technology company and the name of its “super-app” that offers a vast array of online-to-offline local services.
  • In a Nutshell: Think of “Meituan” not just as a company, but as a verb and a way of life in China. It's the default digital tool for solving immediate needs. Hungry? “Meituan it.” Bored? “Meituan it.” Need to buy something from a nearby store but don't want to go out? “Meituan it.” It represents the peak of convenience in China's mobile-first economy.

Character Breakdown

  • 美 (měi): This character's primary meaning is “beautiful” or “good.” It's also the first character in the Chinese word for America, 美国 (Měiguó). In this context, it simply implies “good” or “excellent.”
  • 团 (tuán): This character means “group,” “regiment,” or “to unite.” Its most relevant meaning here comes from the word 团购 (tuángòu), which means “group buying.”
  • The name 美团 (Měituán) literally translates to “Beautiful Group.” This name reflects the company's origins as a group-buying website, similar to Groupon, where groups of people could get good deals. While its business has expanded far beyond this, the name remains a legacy of its founding concept.

Cultural Context and Significance

  • The “Super-App” Phenomenon: Meituan is a prime example of the “super-app” (超级应用 chāojí yìngyòng) model that dominates the Chinese internet. Unlike in the West, where we use separate apps for food delivery (DoorDash), reviews (Yelp), transportation (Uber), and bookings (Expedia), Chinese tech giants integrate all these functions into a single, seamless ecosystem. This creates incredible user convenience and “stickiness.”
  • Comparison to Western Services: To get the full Meituan experience in the US, you would need to open DoorDash to order lunch, then switch to Yelp to find a dinner spot, then open Fandango to book movie tickets, and finally use Expedia to book a hotel for the weekend. Meituan does all of this and more within one app, often with cross-promotions and a shared wallet.
  • The Backbone of Urban Life: Meituan and its army of delivery riders (骑手 qíshǒu) have fundamentally changed urban living. Office workers depend on it for lunch, families use it for grocery delivery, and young people use it to explore new entertainment options. The sight of Meituan's bright yellow electric scooters zipping through traffic is a ubiquitous part of any Chinese cityscape. This has created a massive gig economy, but also sparked discussions about labor conditions for its riders.

Practical Usage in Modern China

  • Ordering Food Delivery (点外卖 diǎn wàimài): This is the most common use. Users browse menus, place an order, pay with their phone, and track the delivery in real-time.
  • Finding and Reviewing Venues: Through its integration with 大众点评 (Dàzhòng Diǎnpíng), Meituan is the go-to platform for finding restaurants, karaoke bars, gyms, and other businesses, complete with user-submitted reviews and ratings.
  • Booking and Ticketing: Users can seamlessly book movie tickets (often with seat selection), train tickets, flights, and hotels directly within the app.
  • “Anything, Delivered”: Beyond food, Meituan can be used to order groceries, medicine, flowers, coffee, and almost any item from a local supermarket or convenience store, often with a 30-minute delivery promise.
  • “Verbing” the Brand: Much like “to Google,” it's becoming common in colloquial Chinese to use Meituan as a verb. For example, someone might say “我美团一下” (Wǒ Měituán yíxià), meaning “I'll just look it up/order it on Meituan.”

Example Sentences

  • Example 1:
    • 我太饿了，我们用美团点个外卖吧。
    • Pinyin: Wǒ tài è le, wǒmen yòng Měituán diǎn ge wàimài ba.
    • English: I'm so hungry, let's use Meituan to order some food delivery.
    • Analysis: This is the most common and direct usage of the term, referring to the app to order food (点外卖 diǎn wàimài).
  • Example 2:
    • 你想吃什么？我打开美团看看附近有什么好吃的。
    • Pinyin: Nǐ xiǎng chī shénme? Wǒ dǎkāi Měituán kànkan fùjìn yǒu shénme hǎochī de.
    • English: What do you want to eat? I'll open Meituan to see what's delicious nearby.
    • Analysis: This shows how Meituan is used for discovery, not just ordering from a known restaurant.
  • Example 3:
    • 这家餐厅在美团上的评分很高。
    • Pinyin: Zhè jiā cāntīng zài Měituán shàng de píngfēn hěn gāo.
    • English: This restaurant's rating on Meituan is very high.
    • Analysis: Highlights its function as a review platform, similar to Yelp. The word 评分 (píngfēn) means “rating” or “score.”
  • Example 4:
    • 电影票我已经用美团买好了，我们直接去就行。
    • Pinyin: Diànyǐng piào wǒ yǐjīng yòng Měituán mǎi hǎo le, wǒmen zhíjiē qù jiù xíng.
    • English: I've already bought the movie tickets on Meituan, we can just go directly.
    • Analysis: Demonstrates one of Meituan's many non-food services.
  • Example 5:
    • 我的药吃完了，能帮我在美团上买一盒吗？
    • Pinyin: Wǒ de yào chī wán le, néng bāng wǒ zài Měituán shàng mǎi yī hé ma?
    • English: I've run out of my medicine, can you help me buy a box on Meituan?
    • Analysis: Shows the app's use for essential errands like pharmacy runs (美团买药 Měituán mǎi yào).
  • Example 6:
    • 今天下大雨，街上全是美团和饿了么的骑手。
    • Pinyin: Jīntiān xià dàyǔ, jiē shàng quán shì Měituán hé Èle.me de qíshǒu.
    • English: It's raining heavily today, the streets are full of Meituan and Ele.me delivery riders.
    • Analysis: Here, “Meituan” is used as an adjective to describe the riders (骑手 qíshǒu), identifiable by their yellow uniforms. It also mentions its main competitor, 饿了么 (Èle.me).
  • Example 7:
    • 不想做饭了，我们美团个小龙虾吧。
    • Pinyin: Bùxiǎng zuò fàn le, wǒmen Měituán ge xiǎolóngxiā ba.
    • English: I don't feel like cooking, let's Meituan some crayfish.
    • Analysis: A perfect example of “Meituan” being used as a verb, meaning “to order something via Meituan.”
  • Example 8:
    • 你在美团上领优惠券了吗？可以便宜不少钱。
    • Pinyin: Nǐ zài Měituán shàng lǐng yōuhuìquàn le ma? Kěyǐ piányi bùshǎo qián.
    • English: Did you claim the discount coupons on Meituan? You can save quite a bit of money.
    • Analysis: This points to the app's frequent use of digital coupons (优惠券 yōuhuìquàn) to attract users.
  • Example 9:
    • 这次去上海的酒店，我也是在美团上订的。
    • Pinyin: Zhè cì qù Shànghǎi de jiǔdiàn, wǒ yě shì zài Měituán shàng dìng de.
    • English: The hotel for this trip to Shanghai, I also booked it on Meituan.
    • Analysis: Shows its utility as a travel booking platform. 订 (dìng) means “to book” or “to reserve.”
  • Example 10:
    • 美团下单后，半小时就送到了，真快！
    • Pinyin: Měituán xiàdān hòu, bàn xiǎoshí jiù sòngdào le, zhēn kuài!
    • English: After placing the order on Meituan, it was delivered in just half an hour, so fast!
    • Analysis: Introduces the key vocabulary 下单 (xiàdān), which means “to place an order.”

Nuances and Common Mistakes

  • Mistake 1: Thinking it's only for food.
    • A common misconception for newcomers is that Meituan is just a food delivery app. While that's its most visible function, it is a “super-app” for almost all local commerce. Never assume its function is limited to restaurants.
  • Mistake 2: Confusing `美团 (Měituán)` and `外卖 (wàimài)`.
    • Incorrect: 我要一个美团。(Wǒ yào yí ge Měituán.) → “I want a Meituan.” This is grammatically awkward and incorrect.
    • Correct: 我要用美团点外卖。(Wǒ yào yòng Měituán diǎn wàimài.) → “I want to use Meituan to order delivery.”
    • Explanation: `美团 (Měituán)` is the platform/app (like DoorDash). `外卖 (wàimài)` is the service/product (food delivery/takeout). You use the platform to order the service. The exception is the colloquial use as a verb (“Let's Meituan it”).

Related Terms and Concepts

  • 外卖 (wàimài) - The generic term for “food delivery” or “takeout.” This is the service you order on Meituan.
  • 饿了么 (Èle.me) - “Are you hungry?”; Meituan's primary competitor in the food delivery space, owned by Alibaba and identifiable by its blue branding.
  • 大众点评 (Dàzhòng Diǎnpíng) - “The Public's Reviews”; a powerful review service like Yelp, which was acquired by and is now fully integrated into Meituan.
  • 骑手 (qíshǒu) - “Rider”; the official term for the delivery drivers who work for Meituan, Ele.me, and other platforms.
  • 下单 (xiàdān) - “To place an order”; the verb for confirming your purchase on an app like Meituan.
  • 团购 (tuángòu) - “Group buying”; the original business model of Meituan, now just one feature among many.
  • 超级应用 (chāojí yìngyòng) - “Super-app”; the category of all-in-one applications that Meituan and WeChat exemplify.
  • 红包 (hóngbāo) - “Red packet”; often used digitally within the app as promotional discounts or coupons to encourage orders.
  • 支付宝 (Zhīfùbǎo) - Alipay; one of the two dominant mobile payment systems in China, frequently used to pay for orders on Meituan.
  • 微信支付 (Wēixìn Zhīfù) - WeChat Pay; the other major mobile payment system, also fully integrated with Meituan.