chéng shì | 城市 | City or large town |
chéng zhèn | 城镇 | Town |
chí | 池 | Small lake; pond or pool |
chì lǔ | 斥卤 | Saline marsh; salt marsh |
cūn zi | 村子 | Village |
daǒ | 岛 | An Island. The character is a representation of a bird on a mountain. As in Qingdao 青岛, Shandong. |
dì tú | 地图 | Map or chart |
dòng | 峒 | A cave or cavern |
fēng | 峰 | Peak or summit of a mountain. As in Chifeng 赤峰, Inner Mongolia |
gāo yuán | 高原 | Plateau |
gōng lù | 公路 | Highway; public road |
gōng yuán | 公园 | Public recreational park |
gōu | 沟 | Ravine or gully |
haǐ | 海 | Sea. As in Haimen 海门, Jiangsu and Qinghai 青海 |
haǐ yáng | 海洋 | Ocean (vast sea) |
haǐ tān | 海滩 | Beach |
hé | 河 | River. As in Shihezi 石河, Xinjiang |
huǒ shān | 火山 | Volcano. Literally 'fire mountain'. |
hú | 湖 | Lake. As in Wuhu 芜湖, Anhui |
jiāng | 江 | Large river. As in Lijiang 丽江, Yunnan |
pù bù | 瀑布 | Waterfall |
sēn lín | 森林 | Forest. The two characters are made up of five 'trees'. |
shā mò | 沙漠 | Desert |
shān | 山 | Mountain. As in Foshan 佛山, Guangdong |
shān gǔ | 山谷 | Valley |
shān mài | 山脉 | Mountain Range |
shěng | 省 | Province |
shì | 市 | City |
shù lín | 树林 | Woodland |
shuǐ | 水 | Water. As in Tianshui 天水, Gansu |
shuǐ kù | 水库 | Waterfall (literally 'water storehouse') |
tán | 潭 | Pool or pond. As in Xiangtan 湘潭, Hunan |
tiě lù | 铁路 | Railway; railroad (literally 'iron road') |
xī | 溪 | Stream; brook. As in Benxi 本溪, Liaoning |
xiá | 峡 | Gorge; deep ravine |
xiàn | 县 | County (administrative division) |
xiaǒ lù | 小路 | Path; footpath |
yáng | 阳 | The 'sunny side' of yin-yang so quite often a component of city names open to the sun. As in Shaoyang 邵阳, Hunan |
yùn hé | 运河 | Canal |
zhaǒ zé | 沼泽 | Swamp or marshland. |
zhèn | 镇 | Small town |
zhōu | 州 | Prefecture (administrative division). As in Xuzhou 徐州, Jiangsu; Guangzhou 广州, Guangdong |
zì zhì qū | 自治区 | Autonomous region of minority people. |


Chinese provinces
Here are all the Chinese provinces. You can click on the column header to sort the table; click on the province to select it in the table and map, or Double Click to go to the province's full information page.
Other pages in this section cover the country of China, the countries that surround China; information on all the principal cities; airports; visitor attractions; universities; the ethnicity of the people of China; thoughts about China's future and China's climate. As well as a detailed page on each individual province (including a map) are other pages describing the geography and historical features of China: the Yellow River; Yangzi River; Great Wall and the Silk Road.
Name | Chinese | Short | Capital | Population | Area | Density | GDP | Literacy | Ethnicity | Information |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tibet | 西藏 | zàng 藏 | Lhasa | 3.1 | 1,230 | 2.56 | 29,252 | 62.23% | 46% | details map |
Jilin | 吉林 | jí 吉 | Changchun | 27.5 | 187 | 147.16 | 50,162 | 98.08% | 9% | details map |
Beijing | 北京 | jīng 京 | Beijing City | 21.3 | 17 | 1254.82 | 99,995 | 98.30% | 4% | details map |
Zhejiang | 浙江 | zhè 浙 | Hangzhou | 55.0 | 102 | 539.51 | 72,967 | 94.38% | 10% | details map |
Anhui | 安徽 | wǎn 皖 | Hefei | 60.6 | 140 | 432.60 | 34,425 | 91.66% | 1% | details map |
Hunan | 湖南 | xiāng 湘 | Changsha | 67.1 | 212 | 316.69 | 40,287 | 97.33% | 10% | details map |
Shanxi | 山西 | jìn 晋 | Taiyuan | 36.4 | 156 | 233.26 | 35,064 | 97.87% | 0% | details map |
Hebei | 河北 | jì 冀 | Shijiazhuang | 73.6 | 188 | 391.39 | 39,984 | 97.39% | 4% | details map |
Shandong | 山东 | lǔ 鲁 | Jinan | 97.6 | 157 | 621.75 | 60,879 | 95.03% | 1% | details map |
Henan | 河南 | yù 豫 | Zhengzhou | 100.4 | 167 | 601.06 | 34,808 | 95.75% | 1% | details map |
Yunnan | 云南 | diān 滇 | Kunming | 47.0 | 394 | 119.30 | 27,264 | 93.97% | 17% | details map |
Xinjiang | 新疆 | xīn 新 | Urumqi | 22.8 | 1,600 | 14.26 | 40,607 | 97.64% | 7% | details map |
Guangxi | 广西 | guì 桂 | Nanning | 47.4 | 237 | 199.85 | 33,090 | 97.29% | 38% | details map |
Guangdong | 广东 | yuè 粤 | Guangzhou | 106.8 | 178 | 600.22 | 63,452 | 98.04% | 2% | details map |
Sichuan | 四川 | chuān 川 | Chengdu | 81.2 | 485 | 167.50 | 35,128 | 94.56% | 5% | details map |
Jiangxi | 江西 | gàn 赣 | Nanchang | 45.3 | 167 | 271.39 | 34,660 | 96.87% | 0% | details map |
Shaanxi | 陕西 | shǎn 陕 | Xi'an | 37.7 | 206 | 182.99 | 46,928 | 96.26% | 1% | details map |
Hainan | 海南 | qióng 琼 | Haikou | 9.0 | 34 | 264.53 | 38,924 | 95.92% | 17% | details map |
Fujian | 褔健 | mǐn 闽 | Fuzhou | 37.9 | 122 | 310.66 | 63,472 | 97.56% | 2% | details map |
Jiangsu | 江苏 | sū 苏 | Nanjing | 79.5 | 103 | 771.83 | 81,874 | 96.19% | 0% | details map |
Liaoning | 辽宁 | liáo 辽 | Shenyang | 43.9 | 146 | 300.73 | 65,198 | 98.07% | 16% | details map |
Hubei | 湖北 | è 鄂 | Wuhan | 58.1 | 186 | 312.23 | 47,124 | 95.42% | 4% | details map |
Guizhou | 贵洲 | qián 黔 | Guiyang | 35.1 | 174 | 201.44 | 26,393 | 91.26% | 38% | details map |
Chongqing | 重庆 | yú 渝 | Chongqing City | 29.8 | 82 | 363.50 | 47,859 | 95.70% | 7% | details map |
Gansu | 甘肃 | gān 甘 | Lanzhou | 25.9 | 454 | 56.97 | 26,427 | 91.31% | 9% | details map |
Heilongjiang | 黑龙江 | hēi 黑 | Harbin | 38.3 | 469 | 81.75 | 39,226 | 97.94% | 5% | details map |
Macau | 澳门 | ào 澳 | Macau City | 0.6 | 1 | 636.20 | 513,427 | 91.30% | 8% | details map |
Inner Mongolia | 内蒙古 | měng 蒙 | Hohhot | 25.0 | 1,200 | 20.84 | 71,044 | 95.93% | 21% | details map |
Ningxia | 宁夏 | níng 宁 | Yinchuan | 6.6 | 66 | 99.68 | 41,834 | 93.78% | 35% | details map |
Qinghai | 青海 | qīng 青 | Xining | 5.8 | 720 | 8.06 | 39,633 | 89.77% | 46% | details map |
Shanghai | 上海 | hú 沪 | Shanghai City | 24.2 | 6 | 4034.00 | 97,343 | 97.26% | 1% | details map |
Tianjin | 天津 | jīn 津 | Tianjin City | 14.9 | 11 | 1358.64 | 105,202 | 97.90% | 3% | details map |
Hong Kong | 香港 | gǎng 港 | Hong Kong City | 7.3 | 1 | 7264.00 | 253,513 | 93.50% | 6% | details map |
Chinese | The province name in Chinese |
Capital | The capital city of the province |
Short | The short name for the province in Chinese. Used on vehicle license plates. |
Population | The population of the province in millions ((National Bureau of Statistics 2014) |
Area | The land area of the province in thousands of square kilometers (Goddard 1997) |
Density | The number of people per square kilometer i.e. (Population/Area) |
GDP | Gross Domestic Product in Chinese Yuan of the province per person (National Bureau of Statistics 2014) |
Literacy | Proportion of people who can read and write (Bureau of Statistics of the PRC 2010) |
Ethnicity | Percentage of people who are not Han Chinese (China Statistical Yearbook 2007) |
Information | Link to a full description of the province and also to a Google map of the province. |
Chinese Geographic terms
The names of Chinese provinces, cities and regions use common elements that are helpful to know when touring China and interpreting maps.