里巷

lǐxiàng

noun

Measure Word

一条里巷 tiáo

Meanings

1 lane
2 alley
3 neighborhood streets

Characters

neighborhood; village

Examples

这件事在里巷间传开了。

Zhè jiàn shì zài lǐxiàng jiān chuán kāi le.

Word of this spread through the alleys.

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 (hútong, in the north).

Stroke Order

里 lǐ

巷 xiàng