观光 (guān guāng) — to go sightseeing, to tour | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

观光 (guānguāng) means 'to go sightseeing' — focused on looking at scenery, sights, or local features, lighter than 旅游 (which covers a whole trip). Pairs with collocations like 观光巴士, 观光客.

verb

to go sightseeingto tour

Examples

观光。
Wǒ men zhè cì qù rì běn zhǔ yào shì wèi le guān guāng.
The main purpose of this trip to Japan is to go sightseeing.
观光，。
guān guāng De shí hou, bié wàng le dài shàng xiàng jī.
When sightseeing, don't forget to bring your camera.
观光。
Zuò guān guāng bā shì kě yǐ xīn shǎng chéng shì fēng jǐng.
Taking a sightseeing bus lets you enjoy the city views.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

观 means look and 光 means light or scenery, so one looks at scenery and goes sightseeing.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 觀; 观 is its simplified writing.

雚見觀

Meaning part形符xíngfú

見見jiànsee

Sound part声符shēngfú

雚

雚guàn觀guān

Same sound today

The traditional form 觀 uses 見 (see) for meaning and 雚 for sound.

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

火火huǒfire
卩卩jiékneeling person

The shape 光 places 火 (fire) above 卩 (a kneeling person), showing fire over the head and the shining of light.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Travel & Tourism

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