城里

城裡

chénglǐ

noun HSK 5 #2,145

Meanings

1 inside the city
2 in town

Characters

city; town; wall

Examples

城里的房子太贵了。

Chénglǐ de fángzi tài guì le.

Houses in the city are too expensive.

他从城里搬到了乡下。

Tā cóng chénglǐ bān dào le xiāngxià.

He moved from the city to the countryside.

城里人和农村人的生活很不一样。

Chénglǐrén hé nóngcūn rén de shēnghuó hěn bùyī yàng.

The lives of city people and rural people are very different.

我们周末去城里逛逛吧。

Wǒmen zhōumò qù chénglǐ guàngguang ba.

Let's go into town this weekend for a stroll.

Tips

usage

城里 often contrasts with 乡下 (xiāngxià, countryside) or 城外 (chéng wài, outside the city). 城里人 means 'city folk.'

history

Historically 城 referred to a walled city. 城里 literally meant 'inside the city walls,' and the contrast between 城里 and 城外 reflected the physical boundary of ancient Chinese cities.

Stroke Order

城 chéng

里 lǐ