Wanna be there, only me

Abbreviations for Chinese Provinces & Other Divisions

Recently I saw an article talking about Chinese province abbreviations, which reminded me of when I went to China last winter. The abbreviations were most prevalent on license plates. I wouldn’t say it’s crucial to know all these abbreviations, but they definitely do come up.

Basically, each province/region/municipality has a one-character abbreviation. Many of these abbreviations are taken from historical names for regions of China or from the names of local rivers. Some of them seem very obvious, but others basically need to be learned from scratch.

Provinces

Anhui 安徽 - 皖 wǎn

Fujian 福建 - 闽 mǐn

Guangdong 广东 - 粤 yuè

Gansu 甘肃 - 甘 gān (on license plates); 陇 lǒng (another abbreviation)

Guizhou 贵州 - 贵 guì (on license plates); 黔 qián (another abbreviation)

Henan 河南 - 豫 yù

Hubei 湖北 - 鄂 è

Hebei 河北 - 冀 jì

Hainan 海南 - 琼 qióng

Heilongjiang 黑龙江 - 黑 hēi

Hunan 湖南 - 湘 xiāng

Jilin 吉林 - 吉 jí

Jiangsu 江苏 - 苏 sū

Jiangxi 江西 - 赣 gàn

Liaoning 辽宁 - 辽 liáo

Qinghai 青海 - 青 qīng

Sichuan 四川 - 川 chuān (on license plates); 蜀 shǔ (another abbreviation)

Shandong 山东 - 鲁 lǔ

Shaanxi 陕西 - 陕 shǎn (on license plates); 秦 qín (another abbreviation)

Shanxi 山西 - 晋 jìn

Yunnan 云南 - 云 yún (on license plates); 滇 diān (another abbreviation)

Zhejiang 浙江 - 浙 zhè

Autonomous Regions

Guangxi 广西 - 桂 guì

Inner Mongolia 内蒙古 - 蒙 měng

Ningxia 宁夏 - 宁 níng

Xinjiang 新疆 - 新 xīn

Tibet 西藏 - 藏 zàng

Special Administrative Regions

Hong Kong 香港 - 港 gǎng

Macau 澳门 - 澳 ào

Municipalities

Beijing 北京 - 京 jīng

Chongqing 重庆 - 渝 yú

Shanghai 上海 - 沪 hù (on license plates); 申 shēn (another abbreviation)

Tianjin 天津 - 津 jīn

Taiwan

Taiwan 台灣 is abbreviated as 台/臺 tái. In Taiwan, both variants of 台/臺 can be seen. From what I understand, which variant is used can reflect one’s political leanings.

Here are some examples of where I have actually encountered these abbreviations (besides on license plates):

Online figure 滇西小哥 is from Yunnan. Her online handle includes  滇, one of the abbreviations for Yunnan Province.

蜀绣 (shu embroidery) is a Chinese embroidery style that I know nothing about but have heard of because it is the name of a 李宇春/Li Yuchun song.

If you’ve ever learned about the 8 great Chinese cuisines, these cuisines are referred to using abbreviations:  川菜 (Sichuan),  粤菜 (Guangdong),  湘菜 (Hunan),  鲁菜 (Shandong),  苏菜 (Jiangsu),  浙菜 (Zhejiang),  闽菜 (Fujian),  徽菜 (Anhui, this term does not use the abbreviation above).

Chuang 2020 fans may remember that 赵粤/Zhao Yue was occasionally jokingly called 赵广东/Zhao Guangdong because her given name 粤 is an abbreviation for 广东.

Online education platform 沪江/Hujiang is headquartered in Shanghai, and  沪江/Hujiang is another name for Shanghai (沪 alone is the common abbreviation).

Sometimes you’ll see 港澳台, which is used to jointly refer to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. I’ve seen this on music charts, for example, to separate what’s popular in Mainland China from what’s popular in TW, HK, and MO.

hope everything will be all right!

I will always be here for you, whenever you need me.

This life is yours. Make it yours

Everytime I want to sleep, I wish I was cuddling you..

Instantly 😊

Wish u were here kissin me and I was kissin u

100 this or that

1. Coffee or tea? 2. Black and white or color? 3. Drawings or paintings? 4. Dresses or skirts? 5. Books or movies? 6. Pepsi or Coke? 7. Chinese or Italian? 8. Early bird or night owl? 9. Chocolate or vanilla? 10. Introvert or extrovert? 11. Hugs or kisses? 12. Hunting or fishing? 13. Winter or summer? 14. Spring or fall? 15. Rural or urban? 16. PC or Mac? 17. Tan or pale? 18. Cake or pie? 19. Ice cream or yogurt? 20. Ketchup or mustard? 21. Sweet pickles or dill pickles? 22. Comedy or mystery? 23. Boots or sandals? 24. Silver or gold? 25. Pop or Rock? 26. Dancing or singing? 27. Checkers or chess? 28. Board games or video games? 29. Wine or beer? 30. Freckles or dimples? 31. Honey mustard or BBQ sauce? 32. Body weight exercises or lifting weights? 33. Baseball or basketball? 34. Crossword puzzles or sudokus? 35. Facial hair or clean shaven? 36. Crushed ice or cubed ice? 37. Skiing or snowboarding? 38. Smile or game face? 39. Bracelet or necklace? 40. Fruit or vegetables? 41. Sausage or bacon? 42. Scrambled or fried? 43. Dark chocolate or white chocolate? 44. Tattoos or piercings? 45. Antique or brand new? 46. Dress up or dress down? 47. Cowboys or aliens? 48. Cats or dogs? 49. Pancakes or waffles? 50. Bond or Bourne? 51. Sci-Fi or fantasy? 52. Numbers or letters? 53. Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings? 54. Fair or theme park? 55. Money or fame? 56. Washing dishes or doing laundry? 57. Snakes or sharks? 58. Orange juice or apple juice? 59. Sunrise or sunset? 60. Slacker or over-achiever? 61. Pen or pencil? 62. Peanut butter or jelly? 63. Grammys or Oscars? 64. Detailed or abstract? 65. Multiple choice questions or essay questions? 66. Adventurous or cautious? 67. Saver or spender? 68. Glasses or contacts? 69. Laptop or desktop? 70. Classic or modern? 71. Personal chef or personal fitness trainer? 72. Internet or cell phone? 73. Call or text? 74. Curly hair or straight hair? 75. Shower in the morning or shower in the evening? 76. Spicy or mild? 77. Marvel or DC? 78. Paying a mortgage or paying rent? 79. Sky dive or bungee jump? 80. Oreos or Chips Ahoy? 81. Jello or pudding? 82. Truth or dare? 83. Roller coaster or Ferris wheel? 84. Leather or denim? 85. Stripes or solids? 86. Bagels or muffins? 87. Whole wheat or white? 88. Beads or pearls? 89. Hardwood or carpet? 90. Bright colors or neutral tones? 91. Be older than you are or younger than you are? 92. Raisins or nuts? 93. Picnic or nice restaurant? 94. Black leather or brown leather? 95. Long hair or short hair? 96. “Ready, aim, fire” or “Ready, fire, aim”? 97. Fiction or non-fiction? 98. Smoking or non-smoking? 99. Think before you talk or talk before you think? 100. Asking questions or answering questions?