紧锣密鼓
jǐn luó mì gǔ
in full swing; with intense preparations
Character by character
紧jǐn
tight
tight
锣luó
gongs
gongs
密mì
dense
dense
鼓gǔ
drums
drums
Example
新学期快开始了，学校正在紧锣密鼓地做准备。
The new term is about to begin, and the school is busy with preparations.
Tone: neutral.
Usage and origin
From the theatre, where a fast, dense beat of gongs and drums comes before the curtain rises. Dictionaries gloss it as the tense build-up before something is formally launched; today it is used of any busy, intense stretch of work, mostly as an adverbial: 紧锣密鼓地筹备／进行／推进. Very common in news.
Learn this in Lesson 187 · HSK 7–9: 大兴机场 (Building Daxing Airport)
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