物是人非

wù shì rén fēi

the place is the same but the people are gone

Character by character

物wù
things

是shì
same

人rén
people

非fēi
not

回到老家，物是人非，心里很不是滋味。

Back home, the place was the same but the people had gone, and it hurt.

Tone: neutral.

Nostalgic; from Li Qingzhao's line 物是人非事事休.

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