xiāng
country; countryside; village; rural area; home village
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我很想念我的家乡。
wǒ hěn xiǎngniàn wǒ de jiāxiāng.
I miss my hometown very much.
我来自一个偏僻的乡村。
wǒ láizì yīgè piānpì de xiāngcūn.
I come from a remote village.
乡亲们都很热情好客。
xiāngqīnmen dōu hěn rèqíng hàokè.
The乡亲s are very hospitable.
故乡 (gùxiāng)
hometown
农村 (nóngcūn)
countryside
城 (chéng)
city
市 (shì)
city
The Chinese character 乡 (xiāng) is composed of two parts: the radical 邑 (yì), which means "city" or "town", and the phonetic component 享 (xiǎng), which means "to enjoy" or "to receive". The character 乡 originally meant "a place where people live together", and it later came to mean "hometown" or "native place".The character 乡 is often used in Chinese place names, such as 北京 (Běijīng, "Northern Capital") and 上海 (Shànghǎi, "City on the Sea"). It is also used in Chinese idioms, such as 乡音无改，鬓毛衰 (xiāng yīn wú gǎi, bìn máo shuāi, "The accent of my hometown has not changed, but my hair has turned gray") and 少小离家老大回，乡音无改鬓毛衰 (shǎo xiǎo lí jiā lǎo dà huí, xiāng yīn wú gǎi bìn máo shuāi, "I left home when I was young and returned when I was old, but my accent has not changed and my hair has turned gray").The character 乡 is a common character in Chinese, and it is important for HSK learners to understand its meaning and usage.
