HSK 6 · Places

上游 shàngyóu “upper reaches (of a river)” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 上游 means

  1. upper reaches (of a river)
  2. leading position
  3. upper level
  4. upper echelon
  5. upstream

How to say 上游

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale上shàng4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale游yóu2nd tone, rising

上游 in a sentence

  1. 河的上游很美。

    Hé de shàngyóu hěn měi.

    The upper reaches of the river are very beautiful.

    Sentence #2025095 from Tatoeba

How 上游 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.

The character 上 (shàng) with each of its parts in a different colour
上shàngup; upper; above; previous
  • ⺊divination form of 卜 · bǔ
  • 一one · yī

Memory aidA short stroke above the line: up, on top.

The character 游 (yóu) with each of its parts in a different colour
游yóuto swim
  • 氵water form of 水 · shuǐ
  • 斿to swim · yóu

Memory aidWater 氵 gives the meaning: to swim, and from there to travel around.

How to write 上游

上 3 strokes · 游 12 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

上游 (shàngyóu) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 上游 (shàngyóu). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 上游

Words with 上

上shàng · up上午shàngwǔ · morning (forenoon)上课shàngkè · to go to class上学shàngxué · to go to school早上zǎoshang · morning晚上wǎnshang · evening上班shàngbān · to go to work上面shàngmiàn · above路上lùshang · on the road上来shànglái · to come up

Words with 游

游yóu · to swim旅游lǚyóu · to travel游泳yóuyǒng · to swim游戏yóuxì · game游客yóukè · tourist导游dǎoyóu · tour guide游览yóulǎn · to go sightseeing

More words: Places & Geography

平原píngyuán · plain坡pō · slope丘陵qiūlíng · hills区域qūyù · area山脉shānmài · mountain range省会shěnghuì · provincial capital寺庙sìmiào · temple塔tǎ · tower

FAQs

上游 (shàngyóu) means “upper reaches (of a river)” or “leading position”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it shàngyóu: shàng with a 4th tone, then yóu with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 上游 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type shangyou with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 上游 from the suggestions. Typing shangyou into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
上游 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

A dictionary gives you the words. A native teacher shows you how to use them. Start with a free 30-minute intro call.

Book a free intro call

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.