海淀 (Hǎidiàn): Haidian, district in northwest Beijing

Meanings

1 Haidian, district in northwest Beijing
2 hub of Chinese tech and higher education

Characters

海

shallow lake, sediment

Examples

海淀区有很多著名的大学。

Hǎidiàn Qū yǒu hěn duō zhùmíng de dàxué.

Haidian District has many famous universities.

她在海淀的一家科技公司上班。

Tā zài Hǎidiàn de yī jiā kējì gōngsī shàngbān.

She works at a tech company in Haidian.

Tips

culture

Haidian packs in Peking University (北大), Tsinghua (清华), Renmin University, plus the 中关村 tech cluster — basically China's Silicon Valley and Ivy League rolled into one district. The name literally means 'sea shallow' — it was a marshy, lake-dotted area before Beijing expanded.

culture

'海淀家长' (Haidian parents) is a well-known cultural shorthand for high-pressure, education-obsessed parenting — endless tutoring and a relentless push to place kids into top schools.