Chinese city names and their meanings

We have already looked at the Chinese names of some of the American and Canadian cities. Now let’s look at the names of some Chinese cities. Why the Chinese cities are named the way they are? Here are some Chinese cities you might have heard of:

上海 (Shànghǎi): Shanghai

上 (shàng): above

海 (hǎi): sea

So, 上海 (Shànghǎi) means “above sea”. And Shanghai is located on the water, right next to the East China Sea. Is that the reason why it is named “above sea”?

北京 (Běijīng): Beijing

北 (běi): north

京 (jīng): capital

Therefore, 北京 (Běijīng) means “north capital”. As you know Beijing is currently the capital of China. And since it is in the northern part of China, the name "north capital" is very fitting.

南京 (Nánjīng): Nanjing

南 (nán): south

京 (jīng): capital

And南京 (Nánjīng) means “south capital”. For those of you who don’t know, Nanjing was the capital of several Chinese dynasties. It was also the capital of the Republic of China since the 1911 revolution until the 1949 revolution. And it is south compared to Beijing. Here is a map for your reference.

[Source: Click here]

Here are the four directions in Chinese language

北 (běi): north

南 (nán): south

西 (xi): west

东 (dōng): east

The Middle Kingdom

China is called 中国 (zhōngguó) in Chinese.

中(zhōng): middle

国 (guó): state

中国 (zhōngguó): Middle Kingdom

Maybe the map below will help us explain why China is called the Middle Kingdom.

Here is an excerpt from the article where I found the above map:

“The map is similar to many present-day Chinese world maps in that it positions at the centre of the map China (which used self-confidently to refer to itself as the “Middle Kingdom”), and not Europe.”

One theory, among few others, says that China is called the Middle Kingdom because its rulers believed that China is in the center of the world as shown in the map above.

But why is the United States called 美国 (měiguó)?

美(měi): beautiful

国(guó): state