Turning Beijing Landmarks Into Chinese Characters

One way to help you remember Chinese characters' meaning is to think of them as pictographs, illustrating their meaning. Below, we take a look at some of the ways Chinese characters resemble the things they represent – a concept going back to the language's origin with the symbols etched upon tortoise shells.

The following designs made by Rong Brand alter the Chinese names of famous Beijing landmarks to resemble their true-life appearance.

Beginning students may find these designs confusing, but intermediate students may find this to be an interesting lesson in reading comprehension. How many can you pick out?

Landmark: Qianmen
Chinese name: 前门
Pinyin: Qiánmén

Although the modernization of Beijing resulted in the tearing down of its old city wall, many of the gates (门 mén) still remain along the Second Ring Road. This the case for Qianmen, literally the "front gate" to the Forbidden City.

"前" ("qián, front") is located in the upper half of the design and makes a point of extending the "short blade" of its knife radical. "门" ("gate") is located underneath.

Landmark: Summer Palace
Chinese name: 颐和园
Pinyin: Yíhéyuán

Situated right next to Tsinghua University, the Summer Palace remains a popular tourist attraction in Beijing, where it contains some of China's most famous ruins.

In order to "construct" the "roof", the "颐" character (yí, also pronounced shěn) has been drastically altered and so may be very difficult to read. The "和" ("hé, harmony") is directly below it, and the "园" ("yuán, park") becomes the oversized base at the bottom.

Landmark: Dongzhimen
Chinese name: 东直门
Pinyin: Dōngzhímén

While also another "gate" belonging to the old wall of Beijing, modern-day Dongzhimen has broken away from its past and is populated with numerous malls and office towers.

This one is a little tricky because the blocky outline of the offices for the China National Petroleum Corporation has been refashioned using traditional Chinese characters. Reading from left to right, "东" ("dōng, east") becomes "東" while "门" ("mén, gate") becomes "門"; "直" ("zhí, value") is placed in the middle.

Landmark: Beijing West Railway Station
Chinese name: 北京西站
Pinyin: Běijīng xīzhàn

As one of the capital's three main train stations, the Beijing West Railway Station is an iconic landmark for many of the city's new arrivals.

This design takes some liberties from the original character to maintain the symmetry commonly displayed in grand buildings of China. The "北" ("běi, north") gets split in half and placed to either side while the "京" ("jīng, capital") gets placed on top. "西" ("xī, west") becomes the body of the train station, while "站" ("zhàn, station") doesn't appear at all.

Landmark: Beijing Railway Station
Chinese name: 北京站
Pinyin: Běijīng zhàn

This landmark retains its importance as Beijing's first train station, but has fallen behind the times as high-speed rail service has tended to favor the city's other satellite stations.

Once again, the "北" ("north") is split in half and put to either side as "京" ("capital") gets put on top. "站" ("station") makes an appearance below.

Landmark: Nanluogu Xiang
Chinese name: 南锣鼓巷
Pinyin: Nánluógǔ xiàng

The commercialization of this Beijing traditional hutong (胡同, hútòng) has led to its continued preservation, and yet the crowds are so thick here that they are planning to expand this top tourist attraction to Tianjin.

Here, the quaint rooftops of this antique alley have been reflected in its name, of which only the gold radical in "锣, luó" actually has a "roof." And for a place that has become so popular, we think it'd be easier to refer to Nanluogu Xiang by its literal English translation: "South Drum and Gong Alley."

Landmark: Beijing Zoo
Chinese name: 动物园
Pinyin: Dòng wù yuán

Although it's best known in the news these days as the place where all of the city's wholesale markets are getting shut down, it's also a place where animals are exhibited.

This one has taken a lot of liberties in order to keep the stylized domes and arches of the Beijing Zoo's entrance. If you avoid seeing the pillars that stretch to the ground, you'll be able to identify "动" ("dòng, move") to the left, "物" ("wù, thing") in the middle, and "园" ("yuán, park") to the right.

Landmark: Dazhong Temple
Chinese name: 大钟寺
Pinyin: Dà zhōng sì

Bells are definitely the feature at this historic Beijing temple as well as giving it its name, literally "Big Bell Temple."

This one is weird in that the characters "大" and "寺" ("dà, big" and "sì, temple," respectively) are used to construct the eponymous bell, but the character for "钟" ("zhōng, bell") doesn't actually appear.

Landmark: Temple of Heaven
Chinese name: 天坛
Pinyin: Tiāntán

The place where even emperors are humbled, the Temple of Heaven is one of Beijing's top attractions, drawing movie stars and hoarders alike.

The top of "天" ("tiān, sky") gets an extra-wide stroke in this design which also includes a "东" ("dōng, east") on the bottom to denote "Temple of Heaven East Station" although the depiction is clearly that of the Temple of Heaven.

Think you've got the hang of it? Here are some more designs to test your Chinese reading ability. Just a warning: some of these get very difficult.

Images: Weibo.com，Nipic.com, Baidu.com, Quanjing.com, BJ Humanities (tdxy.bjrsdx.com), China News (news.china.com), 360doc.com, Photophoto.cn, VCG.com

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