When combined, 买菜 (mǎicài) literally means “to buy vegetables,” but it has expanded to mean buying all the necessary fresh ingredients (meat, fish, tofu, etc.) to prepare the 菜 (dishes) for a meal.
In traditional Western culture, grocery shopping is often a once-a-week chore, involving stocking up on packaged and frozen goods from a large supermarket. The Chinese concept of 买菜 (mǎicài) is culturally distinct and rooted in the high value placed on 新鲜 (xīnxiān) - freshness. Traditionally, 买菜 was a daily ritual performed at a 菜市场 (càishìchǎng), or “wet market.” This wasn't just a transaction but a social experience. Homemakers, often grandparents, would go every morning to select the freshest produce, live fish, and freshly butchered meat for that day's meals. This involved:
This contrasts with the more sterile and anonymous experience of a Western supermarket. While modern supermarkets (超市 chāoshì) are now ubiquitous in Chinese cities, the underlying desire for freshness remains. This has fueled the explosive growth of grocery delivery apps like Hema (盒马) and Meituan Maicai (美团买菜), which promise to deliver live seafood and fresh vegetables to your door in under 30 minutes, effectively creating a “digital wet market.” The method has changed, but the cultural priority of cooking with fresh, high-quality ingredients bought that day remains central.
买菜 is a high-frequency, neutral term used in everyday conversation. It's neither formal nor informal.
The term always implies buying ingredients to cook, setting it apart from buying snacks or ready-made meals.