I am going to explain many of the province names in hopes that this will help us remember them.  Realize that while I acquired this information from what I consider credible outside resources (mostly books, but also the Internet), I may sometimes incorrectly interpret/translate what I have read.  So don't take this as "gospel" truth.  We're first going to look at directional toponyms.  Next we'll look at toponyms where the generic part of the name is a natural feature.  Finally, we will examine an assortment of toponyms that are just plain cool.

 

east =   south =   west =   north = 

	Shan means mountain.  You will see this in a lot of the toponyms you need to learn for the map quiz, such as in Tien Shan. Dong means east.  Shandong directly translates as "mountain east" and means "east of the mountains."  Although there is a highland region in Shandong, I am assuming the mountain range the name refers to is Taihang Shan in Shanxi province.
	The character guang means something like "shelter."  This is a good character to learn for Chinatown USA because some restaurants or other businesses might use that character as part of their name.  You know what dong means.  Guangdong, therefore, translates to something like "eastern shelter," probably in reference to the harbors there.  It was this region that largely contributed to emigration to America because of the strife there in the mid-1800s combined with the lure of the California Gold Rush.
	The right-hand portion of the character, nan, stands for "south."  The other symbol, yun,  means "cloud."  Thus Yunnan means "south of the clouds."
	You already know about nan.  The other character, hu, means "lake."  What do you think Hunan means?  Divide the hu character into thirds and look at the left-most figure.  That symbol refers to water.  The right-most symbol stands for moon. I can imagine a moon reflected on the water, can you? So, what lake are they talking about?  Dongting Hu, which is in the northernmost portion of the province.  What does hu mean?
	And here we have a similar name, Hubei.  What does bei mean?  (Look up at the diagram if need be.)  What does Hubei mean?  Be sure to notice the geographical relationship between these two provinces.  Where are they in relation to Dongting Hu and the lakes in the southernmost part of Hubei? That's right!  Hubei is north of the lakes and Hunan is south of the lakes!
	Do you see the "water" portion in the character he? He means river, as in the Huang He or Yellow River. Bei means north, as you know.  Therefore, Hebei means "north of the river."  Which river is it north of?  The Huang He!
	Jiang is another way of saying river.  Notice that the character still has the water symbol in it. Xi means west.
	Do you remember what shan means?  Look at the left character and you will probably remember.  So what mountain is Shanxi west of?  Taihang Shan is on the eastern side of Shanxi, so most of the province is to the west.  By the way, portions of the Great Wall follow the northern and eastern borders of this province.
	The first character, shaan, means mountain passes. Xi means "west," making Shaanxi  "west of the mountain passes."  There are several  ranges in this province, including Baiyu Shan, Qin Ling, and Daba Shan.  I imagine there must be some historically important mountain passes here.
	Go back up and look at Guangdong to remind you what the character guang means.  You know what xi means, so what does Guangxi mean?  Again, I think shelter is in reference to the harbors.
	Xizang means something like "concealed in the west."  That seems a fitting name for Tibet.

	If you look at Jiangxi above, you will recall that jiang means river.  Note the water symbol.  I don't know what zhe means but I do see that it has a water symbol in it, too.  Where is it located?  Next to the East China Sea.  And as you might well imagine, there's a river running through Zhejiang that flows into the sea.
	I'm rather fond of the lin character.  Not only does it sound like my name (Linda) but it stands for forest.  I like forests.  Notice how the character lin is made up of two identical symbols.  Well, if you only had one of them it would mean tree!  Ji means lucky, making Jilin a "lucky forest."
	Tian can mean "sky," "heaven," or "day." Jin sometimes means "ferry."  I think of Tianjin as meaning "sky ferry."
	Si means four.  Chuan means river.  Notice that this character is different than the other characters for river.  But it sure looks like a river, eh?  Sichuan, then, can translate as "four rivers."  I suppose that at least one of these rivers refers to the Yangtze.
	Qing can mean "blue" or "green" or "black," all colors of the sea.  Do you remember what hai means?  Qinghai, or "Blue Sea," is also the name of the largest lake in this province.  Can you find the Tsaidam Basin and Qinghai Hu in this image?
	Do you recognize the character jiang on the left?  It has that water symbol.  The su part apparently means "Soviet" or something along those lines.  It appears that Jiangsu means "Soviet River."  The Yangtze empties into the East China Sea in this province, and there is also the Grand Canal which connects the Yangtze with the Huang He.  However, I don't see the connection of these waterways with the word "Soviet."
	Hei means "black," "dark," or "secret." Long means "dragon" but the character is usually written differently. Jiang means river.  Heilongjiang is the Chinese name for the Amur River, which forms the northern border of this province.  The Amur River, or Heilongjiang, separates eastern China from Russia.  I think that "Black Dragon River" is a good name for the Amur.
	If you look at the character for river in Sichuan (above), you will see a resemblance to the character, zhou, on the right.  Those little marks in the river character make zhou mean "river islets." I don't know what gui means.

	I already mentioned Jilin above, but I think "lucky forest" is a cool name, so I wanted to put it here also.
	Tianjin was also discussed above.  You will see the root tian in other names, such as in Tiananmen (Heavenly Peace Gate) Square.  Notice the water mark in jin, which means "ferry" as far as I can determine.
	An (as mentioned above) means peace.  The character on the left is in turn composed of two radicals.  You can think of the top portion as a roof.  This symbol is used in many words relating to buildings.  The symbol below the roof is the character for female.  Thus, a female under a roof symbolizes peace.  An is said in a high even voice and is also part of the word for good night (wan an).  I don't know what the hui character stands for!