登高望远
dēng gāo wàng yuǎn
to climb high and look far; to take the long view
Character by character
登dēng
climb
climb
高gāo
high
high
望wàng
gaze
gaze
远yuǎn
far
far
Example
重阳节那天，我们一家登高望远，整座城市都在脚下。
On the Double Ninth our family climbed up high to take in the view, with the whole city at our feet.
Tone: positive (praise).
Usage and origin
Literally the 重阳 custom of climbing a height; figuratively, to take a broad, far-sighted view, a favourite of speeches and editorials: 登高望远，才能看清方向.
Learn this in Lesson 41 · HSK 5–6: 元宵、七夕与重阳 (The smaller festivals)
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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