How to Write 郊 (jiāo) — Meaning “suburb / outskirts”

Imagine a city wall (阝) and a crossing road (交) just outside it. The character shows that you need to cross the city line to reach the suburbs, so think of 'crossing to the outskirts.'

Write the left radical 阝 first as two strokes (a hook then a vertical line), then the right side 交 with six strokes. Make sure the right side is slightly wider than the left, and do not make the top part of 交 too big or the bottom legs too close together.

邠 (bīn) is a rare character used in ancient place names like Bin County, while 邡 (fāng) is also an old place name. Unlike 郊, which is common for 'suburbs,' 邠 and 邡 are almost never used in modern daily Chinese and have different pronunciations.

Use 郊 to talk about the outskirts or suburban areas of a city, like in 郊区 (suburb) or 郊游 (a day trip to the countryside). In China, people often go 郊游 on weekends to enjoy nature or visit farms, which is a popular leisure activity.

Common words containing 郊 include: 郊外 (jiāo wài) — Countryside / Outskirts; 郊区 (jiāo qū) — Suburbs; 郊游 (jiāo yóu) — Outing / Excursion.