澡塘

zǎotáng
noun #64,514

Measure Word

Meanings

  1. 1 public bathhouse
  2. 2 communal bath
  3. 3 bathing pool

Examples

Xiǎoshíhou wǒ cháng hé yéye yìqǐ qù zǎotáng xǐzǎo.
When I was little I often went to the public bathhouse with my grandfather.
Hútòng kǒu nà jiā lǎo zǎotáng yǐjīng kāi le jǐshí nián le.
That old bathhouse at the entrance of the alley has been open for decades.

Tips

culture
Northern Chinese institution similar to Japanese sentō or Russian banya — strangers bathe together in a hot communal pool. Once a daily-life staple in places without home plumbing, especially Beijing and Tianjin,澡塘 culture has faded but a few historic ones survive.
mistakes
澡塘 (zǎotáng) and 澡堂 (zǎotáng — same pinyin, different second character) are near-synonyms; 澡堂 emphasizes the building, 澡塘 emphasizes the pool inside. Both translate as 'bathhouse' — 澡堂 is slightly more common today.

Stroke Order

zǎo
táng