烟花三月下扬州

煙花三月下揚州

yānhuāsānyuèxiàYángzhōu

phrase

Meanings

1 in the misty-blossom third month, heading down to Yangzhou
2 traveling to Yangzhou in the blossoming spring

Characters

flower / blossom

to go down / travel downstream

Yang (place name)

Examples

故人西辞黄鹤楼，烟花三月下扬州。

Gùrén xī cí Huánghèlóu, yānhuā sānyuè xià Yángzhōu.

My old friend bids farewell at Yellow Crane Tower in the west, and in the misty-blossom third month sails down to Yangzhou.

趁着烟花三月下扬州的好时节，我们去江南走走吧。

Chènzhe yānhuā sānyuè xià Yángzhōu de hǎo shíjié, wǒmen qù Jiāngnán zǒuzou ba.

Let's take advantage of this 'sailing to Yangzhou in blossom-time' season and travel through Jiangnan.

Tips

history

From Li Bai's 《黄鹤楼送孟浩然之广陵》 (Tang dynasty), seeing off Meng Haoran: 故人西辞黄鹤楼，烟花三月下扬州。孤帆远影碧空尽，唯见长江天际流。 The 'third month' is lunar March — late spring, when Yangzhou is at its most beautiful and boat travel down the Yangtze is easiest.

culture

烟花 here does NOT mean fireworks — it means mist-wreathed blossoms of late spring. The line is now a tourism slogan for Yangzhou every spring.

Stroke Order

烟 yān

花 huā

三 sān

月 yuè

下 xià

扬 yáng

州 zhōu