滬 meaning and stroke order
Shanghai; the Shanghai river
How to write 滬, stroke by stroke
14 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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How 滬 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Water.
氵 gives the meaning and 扈 hints at the sound.
Radical: 氵 (water), shared by 467 characters on this site.
How to remember 滬
The water radical 氵 on the left points to a river, and 扈 (hù) on the right gives the sound. Picture the water of the Shanghai river flowing beside the city, and you have 滬 (hù).
滬 (hù) is the one-character abbreviation for Shanghai. You see it on license plates, train names, and in news headlines, often paired with other city abbreviations. Example: 京滬高鐵 (Jīng Hù gāotiě), the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes read 滬 as hǔ because of 虎 (hǔ, tiger), but it is fourth tone, hù. Also, do not use 滬 by itself to mean Shanghai in normal speech. Say 上海 (Shànghǎi) and save 滬 for abbreviations and compounds.
Questions about 滬
How many strokes are in 滬?
滬 is written with 14 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 滬 mean?
滬 (hù) means Shanghai; the Shanghai river.
How do you pronounce 滬?
滬 is pronounced hù, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 滬?
The radical of 滬 is 氵, which carries the idea of "water". Dictionaries list 滬 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 滬?
滬 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 沪, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Why is Shanghai shortened to 滬 and not 上?
上 is far too common to stand for one city, so Shanghai uses 滬, a character tied to the local river area. That makes it clear and unique in abbreviations like 滬A on license plates.
What are some common words that contain 滬?
Common ones include 滬語 (Hùyǔ), the Shanghai dialect, 滬劇 (Hùjù), Shanghai opera, and 滬深 (Hù Shēn), short for the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges.