Definition
回城 means 'to return to the city' (回 'return' + 城 'city'), but in modern Chinese it often carries historical weight — especially referring to the educated youth (知青) who were sent to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution and later allowed to move back. It's a verb-object compound that can be separated: you can insert aspect markers or measure words between the two syllables, like 回了城 or 回了一次城. Without the historical context, it simply means 'go back to town'.
verb
to return to the city(historically) for sent-down urban youth to return from the countryside
Examples
- 回城。Hěn duō zhīqīng zhídào qīshí niándài mò cái huí chéng.Many sent-down youth did not return to the city until the late 1970s.
- 回城。Tā huí chéng hòu zhǎo le yí fèn gōngchǎng de gōngzuò.After returning to the city, he found a factory job.
- ，回城。Wǒ zài xiāngxià dāi le liǎng nián, zhǐ huí chéng yí cì chéng.I stayed in the countryside for two years and only went back to the city once.
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