Comments on: The Many Chinese Words for “Lane” http://www.urbanphoto.net/blog/2009/12/21/the-many-chinese-words-for-lane/ Exploring urban life through word and photography Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:47:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Christopher Szabla http://www.urbanphoto.net/blog/2009/12/21/the-many-chinese-words-for-lane/comment-page-1/#comment-317133 Christopher Szabla Tue, 22 Dec 2009 22:02:00 +0000 http://www.urbanphoto.net/blog/?p=5816#comment-317133 I imagine the use of "xiang" in Taipei has to do with the fact that Chinese from many different regions flocked to the city after the Communist takeover of the mainland? I wonder if there will be a similar flattening of dialects as a result of all the migration that's taken place on the mainland since the 70s, leaving the regional terms sounding anachronistic. Beijing even has its own term for "important street": "dajie" rather than "lu". I've seen the former translated as "avenue" or "street" as opposed to "road". Maybe there's just a different hierarchy there; the ring roads, which are massive highways, are referred to as "lu". I imagine the use of “xiang” in Taipei has to do with the fact that Chinese from many different regions flocked to the city after the Communist takeover of the mainland? I wonder if there will be a similar flattening of dialects as a result of all the migration that’s taken place on the mainland since the 70s, leaving the regional terms sounding anachronistic.

Beijing even has its own term for “important street”: “dajie” rather than “lu”. I’ve seen the former translated as “avenue” or “street” as opposed to “road”. Maybe there’s just a different hierarchy there; the ring roads, which are massive highways, are referred to as “lu”.

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