千里冰封

qiān lǐ bīng fēng

ice sealing a thousand li: a vast land locked in ice

Character by character

千qiān
thousand

里lǐ
li

冰bīng
ice

封fēng
sealed

每到一月，东北千里冰封，江面上到处是滑冰的孩子。

Come January, the north-east is locked in ice for mile after mile, and the frozen rivers are full of children skating.

Tone: neutral.

Best known from the opening of 毛泽东’s 1936 poem 《沁园春·雪》: 北国风光，千里冰封，万里雪飘. It is usually paired with 万里雪飘 to paint a northern winter.

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.