Learn Chinese Characters 124 西

西(xī)



It looks like a nest where birds rest themselves. It originally means “rest’. As birds went back their nest when the sun goes down on west, then the character “西” was used to refer to the direction of “west”.

“东” and “西” are opposite and “东” goes before “西” when they occur together to form phrases or sentences.


Useful Phrases:

西北(xī běi) northwest

西南(xī nán)  southwest

西餐(xī cān) western-style food 

西红柿(xī hóng shì) tomato 

西游记(xī yóu jì)
a classic chinese book Journey to the West

西藏(xī zàng) Tibet