Place names in China

Place names in China primarily refers to Han Chinese names, but also to those used by China's minorities.

Origins

Spencer (1941) views that Han Chinese place names indicate both domestic cultural and geographical influences, but rarely and cultural influence from other parts of the world.^[1] This tendency appeared to be characteristic not only of Chinese place- names in Singapore: in his study of place-names in China, J. E. Spencer notes that 'although Chinese names indicate both domestic cultural and geographical influences, they almost never indicate cultural influence from other parts of the world.77...^[2]

Tibetan, Mongolian, Uighur and tribal minorities of China's names are phonetically transcribed into Chinese.^[3]

In Chinese grammar

Names for places in China, when referred to in Chinese contain a class identifier. In English this is often translated, while the rest of the name is not. The class identifier in Chinese is placed at the end, in English with the exceptions of mountains and lakes the identifier is placed at the end too. For names of lakes and mountains "X Lake" ^[4] / "Lake X" and "X Mountain" / "Mount X" both is used.

Some mountain ranges like Tian Shan are referred to English by the Chinese name. "Tian" means sky or heaven and "Shan" means mountain(s), so Tian Shan literally translates as the "Heaven Mountains".

List of class names

E = English, C = Chinese, P = Pinyin

Group	Class (E)	Class (C)	Class (P)	Example (E)	Example (P)
Administrative	Autonomous Region	自治区	Zìzhìqū	Tibet Autonomous Region	Xīzàng Zìzhìqū
Administrative	Province	省	Shěng	Hebei Province	Héběi Shěng
Administrative	County	县		Pan County
Administrative		州	-zhou	Tongzhou
Administrative		縣	-xian	(Tung-hsien historic)
Administrative	Autonomous county	自治县	Zìzhìxiàn	Dachang Hui Autonomous County
Administrative	City	市	Shì	Chengdu City	Chéngdū Shì
Administrative	District	区	Qū	Bincheng District	Bīnchéng Qū
Administrative	League	盟	Méng	Alxa League	Ālāshàn Méng
Administrative	Autonomous banner	自治旗	Zìzhìqí	Evenk Autonomous Banner	Èwēnkèzú Zìzhìqí
Landform	Mountains	山脉		Ailao Mountains	Āiláo Shān
Landform	Mountain	山	Shān	Tianmu Mountain	Tiānmù Shān
Landform	Peak	峰	Feng
Landform	Hill			..	see List of hills in Hangzhou
Landform	Island	岛	Dǎo	Liugong Island	Liúgōng Dǎo
Landform	Plateau	草原	Cǎoyuán	Bashang Plateau	Bàshàng Cǎoyuán
Landform	Peninsula	半岛	bàn dǎo	Shandong Peninsula	Shāndōng bàn dǎo
Landform	Valley	沟 (formally 峡)		Insukati Valley
Landform	Pass	关	Guān	Kunlun Pass	Kūnlún Guān
Landform	Desert	沙漠	Shāmò	Taklamakan Desert	Tǎkèlāmǎgān Shāmò
Landform	Gorge	峡	Xiá	Wu Gorge	Wū Xiá
Landform	Beach
Landform	Basin	盆地	Péndì	Tarim Basin	Tǎlǐmù Péndì
Landform	Cave	洞	Dòng	Xianren Cave	Xiānrén Dòng
Landform	Plain	平原	Píngyuán	Chengdu Plain	Chéngdū Píngyuán
Landform/Water	Glacier	冰川	bīnchuān	Mingyong Glacier
Landform/Water	Spring	泉	Quán	Baimai Spring	Bǎi Mài Quán
Landform/Water	Waterfall	瀑布	Pù Bù	Hukou Waterfall	Hǔ Kǒu Pù Bù
Landform/Water	River	河	Hé	Huai River	Huái Hé
Landform/Water	River	江	Jiāng	Chang River	Cháng Jiāng
Landform/Water	Lake	湖	Hú	Ayding Lake	Àidīng Hú
Landform/Water	Sea, X Gulf		Hǎi	Bohai Sea	Bó Hăi
Landform/Water	Bay	灣	Wān	Bohai Bay	Bóhǎi Wān
Landform/Water	Strait	海峡	hǎixiá	Taiwan Strait
Landform/Water	Reservoir	水库		Zhelin Reservoir

Directions

• East: 东, Dong - e.g. Guangdong (广东), "Expanse East"
• West: 西, Xi – e.g. Xi'an (西安), "Western Peace"
• South: 南, Nan – e.g. Hainan (海南), "South of the Sea"
• North: 北, Bei – e.g. Beijing (北京), "Northern Capital"

References

1. Brenda S. A. Yeoh Contesting Space in Colonial Singapore- 2003 Page 232
2. Joseph Earle Spencer -Chinese Place Names and the Appreciation of Geographic Realities 1941
3. Central Asiatic Journal: - Volumes 38-39 1994 - Page 222 "A confusing aspect of the Chinese character renderings of Tibetan (as well as Mongolian and Uighur) place names concerns how particular characters are chosen to phonetically transcribe specific Tibetan letters."
4. http://www.mwr.gov.cn/english1/20040802/38171.asp - Ministry of Water Resources