粉妆玉砌
fěn zhuāng yù qì
as if powdered white and built of jade: a world made white by snow
Character by character
粉fěn
powder
powder
妆zhuāng
make-up
make-up
玉yù
jade
jade
砌qì
laid
laid
Example
雪后的公园粉妆玉砌，每根树枝上都挂满了白白的雪。
After the snow the park looked powdered white and built of jade, every branch heavy with snow.
Tone: positive (praise).
Usage and origin
A literary partner of 银装素裹 for snowscapes. Do not confuse it with 粉妆玉琢 (zhuó, “carved jade”), which mostly describes a beautifully made-up woman or a fair-skinned child.
Learn this in Lesson 22 · HSK 5: 冰城哈尔滨 (Harbin, the city of ice)
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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