白雪皑皑
bái xuě ái ái
(of a landscape) covered in white snow; a vast expanse of snow
Character by character
白bái
white
white
雪xuě
snow
snow
皑ái
snow-white
snow-white
皑ái
snow-white
snow-white
Example
车窗外白雪皑皑，远处的村庄只露出几个屋顶。
Outside the train window everything lay under deep white snow, and only a few roofs of the distant village showed.
Tone: neutral.
Usage and origin
皑皑 (ái ái) is a literary word for the dazzling white of snow and frost, and the phrase is used almost only of snow: 山顶白雪皑皑, 白雪皑皑的草原. It is a written, descriptive phrase for wide landscapes, not for a patch of snow on the pavement.
Learn this in Lesson 147 · HSK 7–9: 冬奥之后的冰雪 (Ice and snow after the Winter Olympics)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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