天堑变通途

天塹變通途

tiānqiànbiàntōngtú

phrase

Meanings

1 the natural moat becomes a thoroughfare
2 a formidable natural barrier has been transformed into an open passage

Characters

heaven / natural

moat / chasm (天堑 = natural barrier)

to become / transform

road (通途 = open thoroughfare)

Examples

港珠澳大桥让天堑变通途。

Gǎng Zhū Ào dàqiáo ràng tiān qiàn biàn tōng tú.

The Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge has turned a natural barrier into a thoroughfare.

高铁修通后，偏远山区也实现了天堑变通途。

Gāotiě xiū tōng hòu, piānyuǎn shānqū yě shíxiàn le tiān qiàn biàn tōng tú.

Once high-speed rail reached remote mountain areas, their natural barriers became open routes too.

Tips

history

From Mao Zedong's 1956 ci-poem 《水调歌头·游泳》, written after swimming across the Yangtze and commemorating the then-under-construction Wuhan Yangtze Bridge: 一桥飞架南北，天堑变通途 — 'One bridge flies across north and south; the heavenly moat becomes a thoroughfare.' 天堑 originally referred specifically to the Yangtze as a strategic barrier.

usage

Now the standard phrase for major infrastructure achievements — bridges, tunnels, high-speed rail. Extremely common in news coverage of engineering projects.

Stroke Order

天 tiān

堑 qiàn

变 biàn

通 tōng

途 tú