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大街小巷 (dà jiē xiǎo xiàng) — everywhere in the city, all over town, throughout the streets and alleys

Definition

An idiom meaning 'every street and alley' — used for places, vendors, or events found all over a city. Unlike 四通八达 (about a place being well-connected), this phrase describes wide coverage, not access.

phrase
everywhere in the city, all over town, throughout the streets and alleys

Examples

  • 大街小巷。
    dà jiē xiǎo xiàng Lǐ dào chù dōu néng kàn dào mài huā de shāng fàn.
    You can see flower vendors everywhere in the streets and alleys.
  • 大街小巷，。
    Tā zǒu biàn le zhè lǐ de dà jiē xiǎo xiàng, jiù wèi le zhǎo yì jiā hǎo cān guǎn.
    He walked through every street and alley here just to find a good restaurant.
  • ，大街小巷。
    Xīn nián qī jiān, dà jiē xiǎo xiàng dōu chōng mǎn le huān shēng xiào yǔ.
    During New Year, all the streets and alleys are filled with laughter and joy.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

大街main street
大dàgreat街jiēstreet
偏正Modifier + head
小巷small alley
小xiǎosmall巷xiàngalley
偏正Modifier + head

大街 and 小巷 together cover every street and alley in town.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
行行xíng
Sound part声符shēngfú
圭
圭guī街jiē
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

街 combines 行 and 圭: 行 is the meaning part, and 圭 is the sound part. Originally, 圭 drew a pair of ritual axes, not earth.

Open 街 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 八八bāto divide; to separate
  • 丨丨gǔnsmall object

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

Open 小 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
己己jǐoneself
Sound part声符shēngfú
共
共gòng巷hàng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

巷 is made from 共, read gòng, and 己, meaning 'oneself'.

Open 巷 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9City & UrbanIdioms & Set Phrases

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.