长途跋涉

cháng tú bá shè

to make a long, hard journey; a long trek

Character by character

长cháng
long

途tú
road

跋bá
climb

涉shè
wade

为了参加孙子的婚礼，八十岁的奶奶长途跋涉从老家赶来。

To be at her grandson’s wedding, his eighty-year-old grandmother made the long journey from her home town.

Tone: neutral.

跋 is crossing mountains on foot and 涉 is wading through water. It is used for any long, tiring journey, as a verb or as a noun: 经过长途跋涉, 一次长途跋涉.

Learn this in Lesson 25 · HSK 5: 一路向北的象群 (The elephants that walked north)

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.