南城 (nánchéng): southern part of a city; south side of town

Meanings

1 southern part of a city; south side of town
2 southern city wall / gate (historical)

Characters

南

Examples

他住在南城，我住在北城。

Tā zhù zài nánchéng, wǒ zhù zài běichéng.

He lives on the south side of town, I live on the north side.

老北京的南城有很多胡同。

Lǎo Běijīng de nánchéng yǒu hěn duō hútòng.

The south side of old Beijing has many hutongs.

Tips

usage

In Chinese city talk you will often hear 东城 / 西城 / 南城 / 北城 as informal directional quarters. In Beijing 南城 historically meant the working-class districts south of the Inner City wall (今崇文、宣武); in many other cities it just means 'the south side of town'.

culture

Also a place name: 南城县 (Nancheng County) in Jiangxi. When capitalized pinyin (Nánchéng) is used, it usually refers to that county or to a named district.