Chinese exonyms

When a foreign placename occurs in Chinese text, the problem arises of spelling it in Chinese characters, given the limited phonetics of Mandarin Chinese, and the possible meaning of those characters when treated as Chinese words. For example:

• "London Heathrow Airport" is usually rendered in Chinese text as 倫敦希斯路機場 (Lúndūn Xīsīlù Jīchǎng), with the English pronunciation of 'London' fairly accurate, and of 'Heathrow' less accurate: literally as Chinese this means "kinship, honest" (for London), "hope/rare, given/this, road" (for Heathrow), "aircraft, field", with the last syllable of "Heathrow" rendered as "lu" although the more accurate "lo" and "lou" are known Chinese words. However, the Cantonese pronunciation of 希斯路 (Hei1si1lou6) is much closer to "Heathrow".

Names of foreign nations are sometimes shortened to their first character when used in compounds.

For placenames in Korea or Japan, the Chinese exonym is often the Chinese pronunciation of the hanja or kanji writing of the placename. In some cases, especially in Japan, the Chinese pronunciation may be completely unlike the native-language pronunciation.

Places

Native name	Chinese	Pinyin	Transcription?	Meaning	Country	Notes
California	加州	Jiāzhōu	Yes	N/A	United States	contraction from 加利福尼亞州, Cantonese Gaa3lei6fuk1nei4aa3, Mandarin Chinese Pinyin Jiālìfúníyǎ zhōu
Hiroshima (広島)	廣島	Guǎngdǎo	No	Broad Island	Japan
Liverpool	利物浦	Lìwùpǔ	Yes	N/A	United Kingdom
Los Angeles	洛杉矶	Luòshānjī	Yes	N/A	United States
Moscow	莫斯科	Mòsīkē	Yes		Russia
Osaka (大阪)	大坂	Dàbǎn	No	Big Hillside	Japan
Oxford	牛津	Niújīn	No	Where the ox ford	United Kingdom
Phoenix	鳳凰城	Fènghuángchéng	No	Fenghuang city	United States	the fenghuang is analogous to the Greek phoenix, but only superficially
San Francisco	旧金山	Jiùjīnshān	No	Old Gold Mountain	United States	renamed by Chinese immigrants
São Paulo	聖保羅	Shèngbǎoluó	Yes	N/A	Brazil
Seoul	首爾	Shǒu'ěr	Yes	N/A	Korea	Seoul (Korean 서울) had no official hanja until 2005, until which 漢城 (Chinese Hànchéng, Korean Hanseong) was widely used. Hanseong was its name during the Joseon era until 1907, although Seoul has been in use since c.1882. 漢城 is still used, both in Chinese, as a transcription for Seoul, and Korean, as an unofficial transcription and as a separate toponym.
Seoul	漢城	Hànchéng	No	Han river city/large city	Korea	See above
Tokyo (東京)	東京	Dōngjīng	No	East(ern) Capital	Japan
Toronto	多伦多	Duōlúnduō	Yes	N/A	Canada
Vancouver	温哥华	Wēngēhuá	Yes	N/A	Canada

Nations and regions

Native name	Chinese	Pinyin	Transcription?	Meaning	Notes
Canada	加拿大	Jiānádà	Yes	N/A	加 alone is sometimes used in compound words to mean "Canada"/"Canadian".
France	法国	Fǎguó	Yes	N/A	法 alone is sometimes used in compound words to mean "France"/"French".
Germany	德国	Déguó	Yes	N/A
Iceland	冰島	Bīngdǎo	No	Ice island
Italy	意大利	Yìdàlì	Yes	N/A	意 alone is sometimes used in compound words to mean "Italy"/"Italian".
Japan (日本)	日本	Rìběn	No	sun, origin	Chinese pronunciation of Nippon (日本)
Nepal	尼泊尔	Níbó'ěr	Yes	N/A	尼 alone is sometimes used in compound words to mean "Nepal(ese)".
Southeast Asia	南洋	Nányáng	No	Southern ocean
Spain	西班牙	Xībānyá	Yes	N/A
Sweden	瑞典	Ruìdiǎn	Yes	N/A
United Kingdom	英国	Yīngguó	Yes	N/A	英 alone is sometimes used in compound words to mean "Britain"/"British"/"England"/"English".
United States	美国	Měiguó	Yes	N/A	美 alone is sometimes used in compound words to mean "America(n)".
Vietnam	越南	Yuènán	No	Yue, south

Historical exoynms

Native name	Chinese	Pinyin	Notes
Bactria	大夏	Dàxià
Europe	泰西	Tàixī	literally "Far West"
Ferghana	大宛	Dàyuān	Middle Chinese reconstructed pronunciation
India	天竺	Tiānzhú	From Indo-Iranian Sindhu
Japan	倭	Wō
Roman Empire	大秦	Dàqín