shí táng
dining room; mess hall; canteen
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我在食堂吃饭。
Wǒ zài shítáng chīfàn.
I eat in the cafeteria.
食堂的饭菜很好吃。
Shítáng de fàncài hěn hǎochī.
The food in the cafeteria is delicious.
食堂里很热闹。
Shítáng lǐ hěn rènao.
The cafeteria is very lively.
饭堂 (fàn táng)
canteen
餐厅 (cān tīng)
restaurant
餐厅 (cān tīng)
restaurant
饭馆 (fàn guǎn)
restaurant
The Chinese word 食堂 (shítáng) for "canteen" or "dining hall" is a compound of two characters: 食 (shí), meaning "to eat" or "food", and 堂 (táng), meaning "hall" or "room". The word 食堂 is therefore literally translated as "eating hall".The character 食 (shí) is a pictograph of a person holding a bowl of food to their mouth. It is one of the oldest Chinese characters, dating back to the Shang dynasty (c. 1600-1046 BC). The character 堂 (táng) is also a pictograph, depicting a large room with a raised platform at one end. It was originally used to refer to the main hall of a temple or palace, but over time it came to be used more generally for any large room.The compound word 食堂 (shítáng) first appeared in the 19th century, and it quickly became the standard term for "canteen" or "dining hall". It is now used in both mainland China and Taiwan, as well as in other Chinese-speaking communities around the world.
