不虚此行

bù xū cǐ xíng

the trip was worth it

Character by character

不bù
not

虚xū
wasted

此cǐ
this

行xíng
trip

能亲眼看到大熊猫吃竹子，这一趟真是不虚此行。

Seeing a giant panda eat bamboo with my own eyes made the trip well worth it.

Tone: positive (praise).

Said at the end of a trip, a visit or a meeting that paid off, often as 真是不虚此行 or 总算不虚此行. The opposite is the everyday 白跑一趟, “a wasted journey”.

Learn this in Lesson 26 · HSK 5: 外国游客来了 (China Travel: the visitors return)

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.