鸡毛换糖
jī máo huàn táng
Yiwu peddlers’ trade of sugar for feathers; making a fortune from tiny deals and hard work
Character by character
鸡jī
chicken
chicken
毛máo
feather
feather
换huàn
swap
swap
糖táng
sugar
sugar
Example
爷爷年轻时挑着担子鸡毛换糖，没想到孙子如今在网上把小商品卖到了国外。
Grandpa swapped sugar for feathers from his carrying pole as a young man; he never imagined his grandson would one day sell small goods abroad online.
Tone: positive (praise).
Usage and origin
A four-character phrase from Yiwu’s history rather than a classical chengyu. It now stands for the Yiwu spirit of enterprise (鸡毛换糖精神): starting from nothing, earning a little at a time, going wherever the customers are.
Learn this in Lesson 184 · HSK 7–9: 义乌 (Yiwu, the world’s supermarket)
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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