How to Write 乒 (pīng) — Meaning “ping (sound of a hit)”

Imagine the top left-falling stroke is a small ping-pong ball, and the lower part is a paddle hitting it. The sound "ping" matches the motion, so you can remember that 乒 looks like a ball and paddle together.

Start with the short left-falling stroke, then write a horizontal line, a vertical line, another horizontal, another left-falling, and finish with a dot at the bottom right. A common mistake is making the first stroke too long or forgetting the dot, which changes the character.

乒 has two left-falling strokes (like two legs) and a dot at the bottom right, while 丹 has only one left-falling stroke and a dot inside a box. 乌 is similar to 鸟 but without a dot, looking like a bird missing an eye. Remember: 乒 always has that extra dot.

乒 is most commonly used in the word 乒乓球 (pīng pāng qiú), which means table tennis or ping-pong. It is also used as an onomatopoeia for a hitting sound, like in 乒的一声 (with a 'ping' sound). Table tennis is very popular in China, so you will see this character often in sports contexts.

Common words containing 乒 include: 乒乓球 (pīng pāng qiú) — ping pong; table tennis; 乒乓 (pīng pāng) — ping-pong / table tennis; 乒的一声 (pīng de yī shēng) — with a 'ping' sound.