Meaning of 高铁
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- high speed rail
How to use 高铁
高铁 is the everyday word for China's high speed trains and the network they run on. People often say 坐高铁 (zuò gāotiě) to mean taking the high speed train. Example: 我们坐高铁去上海吧。(Wǒmen zuò gāotiě qù Shànghǎi ba.) Let's take the high speed train to Shanghai.
高铁 is simply 高 (gāo) high plus 铁 (tiě) iron, short for railway. Think of it as the "high" railway, the one that runs at high speed, just like 地铁 (dìtiě) is the "ground" railway that runs underground.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes mix up 高铁 (gāotiě) and 地铁 (dìtiě). 高铁 travels between cities, while 地铁 is the subway inside a city. Also keep both tones clear: first tone on 高 and third tone on 铁.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
高 gāo · high · 10 strokes
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铁 tiě · iron · 10 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 高铁.
| 高兴 | gāoxìng | happy; glad |
| 高中 | gāozhōng | senior high school (abbr. for 高級中學|高级中学[gao1 ji2 zhong1 xue2]) |
| 提高 | tígāo | to raise; to increase |
| 高级 | gāojí | high level; high grade |
| 地铁 | dìtiě | underground railway; subway; subway train |
| 地铁站 | dìtiězhàn | subway station |
| 铁路 | tiělù | railroad; railway |
| 高速公路 | gāosù gōnglù | expressway; highway; freeway |
| 高速 | gāosù | high speed; expressway (abbr. for 高速公路[gao1 su4 gong1 lu4]) |
| 跳高 | tiàogāo | (athletics) high jump |
| 高潮 | gāocháo | high tide; high water; upsurge; peak of activity |
| 高尚 | gāoshàng | noble; lofty |
Questions about 高铁
What does 高铁 mean?
高铁 (gāotiě) means "high speed rail" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 高铁?
高铁 is made of 2 characters: 高 (10 strokes), 铁 (10 strokes). That is 20 strokes in total.
Is 高铁 an HSK word?
Yes. 高铁 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 高铁 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 高铁 is written 高鐵.
What verb do you use with 高铁?
The most common verb is 坐 (zuò), as in 坐高铁. You can also say 乘高铁 (chéng gāotiě), which sounds a bit more formal.
How do you say high speed rail station in Chinese?
You can say 高铁站 (gāotiězhàn), built the same way as 地铁站 (dìtiězhàn) subway station. Many stations also have names ending in 站, such as 北京南站.