Welcome to learning "Chinese Provinces-Part
1". China is a huge country with almost 1.4 billion
people. Geographically it's the third largest country
in the world, and has an area of almost 4 million square miles. Administratively China includes 22 provinces,
five autonomous regions, four municipalities that are not part of any province, two special
administrative regions, and one self-governing area. That's five categories with a total of 34
place names. At times during this presentation I will use
the term provinces generically to describe all 34 areas. What are their names? To English speakers, Chinese place names can
seem a bit confusing. Some names even sound very similar to each
other. Compare the names of these three provinces:
Hainan, Henan, Hunan. All three names are similar. Listen to these two province names: Shanxi
Shaanxi. The differences in spelling and pronunciation
are very subtle. And those two provinces are next-door neighbors! Do you think that it will be difficult to
learn the names and where the provinces are located? Maybe. But compare this task to that of students,
visitors, or immigrants trying to learn the names and locations of America's 50 states. Can you point to Alabama? This is difficult, even for many who grew
up in the United States. But consider this: What if I showed you the
location of South Dakota- you could probably figure out where to find North Dakota. Or if I show you the location of North Carolina
you can guess where to find South Carolina. Having states whose names include a direction
like north or south helps a lot. So those were easy. But the names of most American states don't
even give a hint. What about the names and locations of Chinese
provinces? Relax, they are much easier! Many Chinese provinces use descriptive names. In fact, 13 out of the 34 administrative areas
include the words for north, south, east, or west. Learning the Chinese words for the compass
points, plus a handful of other words- such as mountain, rive,r and lake, will make many
Chinese province names easy. This video will include examples of a native
Chinese speaker demonstrating correct place name pronunciation. Some viewers may be actively learning Chinese. To aid their studies pinyin with proper tone
marks will be displayed. But don't panic. Our goal is learning geography, not perfecting
Chinese pronunciation. At the end of this video you should be able
to effectively discuss Chinese province names with other English speakers as well as recognize
provinces on a map. As we begin let's pause for a few minutes
and consider the names of a few well-known Chinese cities. Let's look at three capital cities- past and
present. Xi'an became the capital of China a few centuries
before the Common Era under the first emperor of China. Notice that the X is pronounced as Shh, Nanjing was the capital during the rule of
eight imperial dynasties starting around 1800 years ago. It was also the capital of the Republic of
China during several periods. In the West we used to call this city Nanking Beijing is both a past and present capital
city. We used to call it Peking. Beijing is also one of the municipalities
that are not part of any province. I mention these cities because their names
include the Chinese words for compass points. Beijing includes the word for north "bei"
means north. Nanjing includes the word for south. "Nan" means south. Xi'an includes the word for West. "Xi" means west. We can use the names of these cities to remember
three of the four compass points. Beijing literally means "north capital". So to remember "bei", remember Beijing. Nanjing means "south capital". Think of Nanjing to remember that south is
"nan". Xi'an means "western peace". Remember it to know that "xi" means west. We will use another method to remember the
Chinese word for east. The word for east is "dong". Well, the sun rises in the east so we use
the English word dawn to remember that "dong" is the Chinese word for east. Okay, let's learn the names and locations
of some important provinces in the heartland of China. Many areas of China have mountains. But let's focus on a couple of mountain systems
in northeast China. "Shan" is the Chinese word for mountain look
at the Chinese written character. It even looks like a mountain! There are provinces to the east and the west
of these mountains. Combine the words for mountain and east and
we have Shandong. This is the name of the province to the east
of these mountains. Mountain and west give us Shanxi, the name
of the province to the west of the mountains. Nearby is a province called Shaanxi. Although "shaan" sounds much like the word
for mountain, it is not. imagine those two letter 'A's as two mountains,
with a road, path, or river running between the peaks. We are describing a mountain pass. The name "Shaan" is given to a mountain pass
located at the red dot in the image. Remember, Shaan does not mean a mountain pass,
but it is the name of a specific pass. So the Chinese call the province to the west
of this pass "shaan" plus "west": Shaanxi province. It's pretty easy to remember where these three
provinces are, and also their names. Note where the capital Beijing is in relation
to these provinces. The Yellow River springs from headwaters high
in the mountains of western China. It is the sixth longest river in the world,
and flows through nine provinces. The basin of the Yellow River is considered
one of the world's three cradles of civilization. In China it is known as the "mother river". According to legend, it is the earthly continuation
of the celestial Milky Way. In the Chinese language "he" is a word for
river. Observe the unlabeled provinces to the north
and south of the river. "River" plus "north" produces Hebei, the name
of the province to the north of the river. Combining "river" and "south" gives us Henan,
the province south of the river. Consider the words we have learned so far. You can see how they are used to name the
Illustrated provinces. That was easy. Let's keep going. Lake Dongting shown on our map has been enlarged
to illustrate its location. The lake's position is good to remember, but
its name is not important. The Chinese word for lake is "hu". You can probably guess how learning that word
will help us. "Lake" plus "north" gives us Hubei, the name
of the province north of this lake. Adding "south" after the word for "lake" produces
Hunan, the province south of the lake. Let's learn the name and location of another
Chinese city. Guangzhou has a population of 13 million people
making it the third largest city in China. You may have heard the name given to the city
by Portuguese traders and colonists: Canton. Notice that in the Chinese name of the city,
"zh" is pronounced much like the English "J"- juhh. Remember the name Guangzhou. The first part of the city's name "Guang"
is also the name given to a large region of southern China. The word "Guang" is generally translated into
English as "expanse". So this large area of China is "the expanse":
: "Guang". What do you suppose the names of the provinces
that comprise the expanse are? For the eastern province we use "Guang" plus
the word for "east" this gives us Guangdong. And the Western Province? You guessed it. "Guang" plus the word for "west": Guangxi. For simplicity we have called this a province. Actually it is one of five autonomous regions
in China. For now just remember that it's name is Guangxi. Let's take another look at Beijing. The capital of the People's Republic of China-
Beijing is one of four self-governing municipalities not part of any province. You can see from the map that it is mostly
enclosed by the province of Hebei. China's use of descriptive names has made
learning these place-names super easy. We have already covered 10 of the 34 administrative
areas. Ready to test yourself? Look at the map. What is the name of the capital city in the
north of China? Yep. Beijing And this province to the east of the mountains? Correct. Shandong. What about the one west of the mountains? Yes. Shanxi. You're on a roll. And the province to the west of a certain
named pass? Shaanxi. That's right. Okay, what is the province north of the river? Hebei. You're correct. South of the river? What is the province? Yes. Henan. North of the lake? Lake Plus north: Hubei. South of the lake? Yes. Hunan. The east side of the expanse? Guangdong. The west side of the expanse? Guangxi. That was almost too easy! Let's pause for some tips on pronunciation
and spelling. The "Romanized" spelling of Chinese place
names is based on a system called "pinyin". The sounds of pinyin don't always correspond
with common pronunciation of those spellings in English. Listen to the names of these two provinces:
Henan, Hunan. Notice that "h-e" is not pronounced as "he"
this Chinese word for river sounds more like "huh". "huh", Henan. The Chinese word for lake sounds like "who". "Who" Hunan. Chinese is a tonal language and written pinyin
normally includes four different tone marks over vowels. Look at the pinyin spelling of the capital
city. Those tone marks help indicate the tone of
each syllable. In English language books, maps, and tourist
brochures we drop the special tone marks. Let's re-examine the names of two provinces:
Shanxi, Shaanxi. This is very difficult. There is a very subtle difference in the tone
of the first syllable. Here "shan" has a high, level tone. Shanxi. Here "shan" has a lower, falling tone. Shaanxi. Unless someday you choose to learn to speak
Chinese, the difference in these sounds is a challenge. The majority of English speakers have difficulty
hearing the difference and it takes a lot of practice to reproduce the sounds. At least among other English speakers you
may be safer to just differentiate by saying "Shaanxi with one 'A' or Shaanxi with two
A's". Okay let's test ourselves again this time
without the hints What's the name of this city? Beijing What's the name of this province? Shandong. What's the name of this province? Shanxi. What's the name of this province? Shaanxi. What's the name of this province? Hebei. what's the name of this province Henan. What's the name of this province? Hubei What's the name of this province? Hunan. What's the name of this province? Guangdong What's the name of this autonomous region? Guangxi How did you do? Watching this presentation a few times will
help solidify your understanding. Let's learn two more place names. The city of Shanghai does not belong to any
province. You are probably already familiar with its
name. Shanghai is the most populous city in China. Actually it is the most populous city in the
world. 24 million people. Just imagine. In comparison, New York has only nine million. Shanghai is the financial capital of China
and sits right on China's East Coast. "Hai" means "sea". Shanghai means "on the sea". Now a bonus province. This province is an island located off the
south coast of the Chinese mainland. Its name combines the word for sea: "hai"
with the name for south: "nan". The name of this island province is Hainan. This presentation has demonstrated that many
Chinese provinces use logical descriptive names. We have reached the end of part one of "Learning
Chinese Provinces". Once you are comfortable with this material,
continue on to part two.
