里巷

lǐxiàng

noun

Measure Word

一条里巷 tiáo

Meanings

1 lane
2 alley
3 neighborhood streets

Characters

neighborhood; village

Examples

HSK 3

这件事在里巷间传开了。

Zhè jiàn shì zài lǐxiàng jiān chuánkāi le.

Word of this spread through the alleys.

HSK 7-9

他住在一条幽静的里巷里。

Tā zhù zài yī tiáo yōujìng de lǐxiàng lǐ.

He lives down a quiet lane.

Tips

register

Slightly literary. 里巷 evokes the old walled-neighborhood (里坊) layout of Tang and earlier Chinese cities - 里 was the residential block, 巷 the lane within it. In modern speech you'd say 巷子 (xiàngzi) or 胡同 (hútòng, in the north).

Stroke Order

里 lǐ

巷 xiàng