HSK 3.0 Level 3 · Places
南方 nánfāng “the south” in Chinese
Same in Traditional
What 南方 means
- the south
- southern part of the country
- southern direction
- (in China) southern regions, often referring to areas south of the Yangtze River
How to say 南方
南方 in a sentence
How 南方 is built
Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

南nánsouth
- 十ten · shí
- 冂down box · jiōng
- 丷eight form of 八 · bā
- 干dry · gān

方fāngsquare
方 is a single shape of 4 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.
How to write 南方
南 9 strokes · 方 4 strokes
Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

Words related to 南方
Words with 南
南nán · South西南xīnán · southwest东南dōngnán · southeast指南针zhǐnánzhēn · compass南辕北辙nányuánběizhé · to act in a way that defeats one’s purpose
Words with 方
北方běifāng · north地方dìfang · place方便fāngbiàn · convenient西方xīfāng · the West东方dōngfāng · the East方便面fāngbiànmiàn · instant noodles方法fāngfǎ · method方面fāngmiàn · respect方向fāngxiàng · direction方fāng · square
More words: Places & Getting Around
FAQs
南方 (nánfāng) means “the south” or “southern part of the country”. It is an HSK 3.0 Level 3 word.
Say it nánfāng: nánfāng. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 南方 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type nanfang with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 南方 from the suggestions. Typing nanfang into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
南方 is an HSK 3.0 Level 3 word in the official 2021 syllabus, and it is on our HSK 3.0 Band 5 word list. It is not on the older HSK 2.0 word lists.
Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.