Ever catch yourself daydreaming about where you’d live if you could choose anywhere? City lights, countryside quiet, or somewhere in between? This text walks you through the classic dilemma of picking your perfect home – and spoiler alert, there’s no perfect answer.
我常常想:以后住在哪里好呢?是住在城市里,还是住在乡下,或者住在郊区?
我现在住在城市里。城市有很多好处。这里有很多商店、饭馆和地铁。我想买东西的时候,走路五分钟就到了。我想看电影,也很方便。可是城市也有不好的地方。人太多,车太多,空气也不好。房子又小又贵。
我朋友住在乡下。他家有一个大院子,旁边有山,有河。早上能听见鸟叫,晚上能看见很多星星。他说在乡下生活很安静,也很健康。可是乡下没有大医院,也没有好学校。买东西要开车去很远的地方。
郊区可能是中间的选择。郊区比城市安静,空气也比城市好。房子大一点,也便宜一点。可是上班的时候,可能要坐很长时间的车。
我觉得,年轻的时候住在城市最好,因为方便,也有很多机会。有了孩子以后,可以搬到郊区,这样孩子有大房子,也能上好学校。老了以后,我想住在乡下,安静地过日子。
每个地方都有好的地方,也有不好的地方。最重要的是:你想要什么样的生活?
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 乡下 | xiāngxià | countryside |
| 郊区 | jiāoqū | suburbs |
| 好处 | hǎochù | advantage/benefit |
| 方便 | fāngbiàn | convenient |
| 院子 | yuànzi | yard/courtyard |
| 安静 | ānjìng | quiet/peaceful |
| 选择 | xuǎnzé | choice/to choose |
| 机会 | jīhuì | opportunity |
| 过日子 | guò rìzi | to live one’s life/get by |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 常常 | cháng cháng | frequently; often |
| 想 | xiǎng | to think (about); to think of; to devise; to think (that); to believe (that); to desire; to want (to); to miss (feel wistful about the absence of) |
| 以 | yǐ | old variant of 以[yi3]; abbr. for Israel 以色列[Yi3 se4 lie4] |
| 后 | Hòu | surname Hou; back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later; post- |
| 住 | zhù | to live; to reside; to stay; to stop; to cease; (result complement indicating firmness or a stable achieved state) |
| 在 | zài | to exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 哪 | nǎ | how; which |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 好 | hǎo | good; appropriate; proper; all right!; (before a verb) easy to; (before a verb) good to; (before an adjective for exclamatory effect) so; (verb complement indicating completion); (… |
| 呢 | ne | (sentence-final particle) used in questions to link back to prior discourse or context ("what about...?", "and...?"); (sentence-final particle) indicating that a state or situation… |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4] |
| 城市 | chéng shì | city; town; CL:座[zuo4] |
| 还是 | hái shi | still (as before); had better; unexpectedly; or |
| 或者 | huò zhě | or; possibly; maybe; perhaps |
| 现 | xiàn | to appear; present; now; existing; current |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 多 | duō | many; much; more; a lot of; too many; in excess; (after a numeral) ... odd; how (to what extent) (Taiwan pr. [duo2]); (bound form) multi-; poly- |
| 这里 | zhè lǐ | variant of 這裡|这里[zhe4 li3] |
| 商 | Shāng | Shang Dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC); surname Shang |
| 店 | diàn | inn; old-style hotel (CL:家[jia1]); (bound form) shop; store |
| 饭馆 | fàn guǎn | restaurant; CL:家[jia1] |
| 和 | hé | old variant of 和[he2]; surname He; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2]) |
| 地铁 | dì tiě | underground railway; subway; subway train |
| 买 | mǎi | to buy; to purchase |
| 东 | Dōng | surname Dong |
| 西 | Xī | the West; abbr. for Spain 西班牙[Xi1 ban1 ya2]; Spanish |
| 的 | de | of; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); (used after a noun, verb or adjective to… |
| 时 | shí | old variant of 時|时[shi2]; surname Shi |
| 候 | hòu | to wait; to inquire after; to watch; season; climate; (old) period of five days |
| 走路 | zǒu lù | to walk; to go on foot; to leave; to depart; (informal) to clear off; to beat it; (of sb who gets fired or resigns) to leave the job; to get out |
| 五 | wǔ | five; 5 |
| 分钟 | fēn zhōng | minute |
| 就 | jìu | (after a suppositional clause) in that case; then; (after a clause of action) as soon as; immediately after; (same as 就是[jiu4 shi4]) merely; nothing else but; simply; just; precise… |
| 到了 | dào liǎo | at last; finally; in the end |
| 看 | kān | to look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard |
| 电 | diàn | lightning; electricity; electric (bound form); to get (or give) an electric shock; phone call or telegram etc; to send via telephone or telegram etc |
| 影 | yǐng | picture; image; film; movie; photograph; reflection; shadow; trace |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 可是 | kě shì | but; however; (used for emphasis) indeed |
| 不好 | bù hǎo | no good |
| 地方 | dì fāng | region; regional (away from the central administration); local |
| 人 | rén | person; people; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2] |
| 太 | tài | highest; greatest; too (much); very; extremely |
| 车 | Chē | surname Che |
| 空气 | kōng qì | air; atmosphere |
| 房子 | fáng zi | house; building (single- or two-story); apartment; room; CL:棟|栋[dong4],幢[zhuang4],座[zuo4],套[tao4],間|间[jian1] |
| 又 | yòu | (once) again; also; both... and...; and yet; (used for emphasis) anyway |
| 小 | xiǎo | small; tiny; few; young |
| 贵 | Guì | short name for Guizhou 貴州|贵州[Gui4 zhou1] |
| 朋友 | péng you | friend; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4] |
| 他 | tā | (third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his; (bound form) other; another; some other (as in 他日[ta1 ri4] and 他人[ta1 ren2]) |
| 家 | jiā | used in 傢伙|家伙[jia1 huo5] and 傢俱|家俱[jia1 ju4]; home; family; (polite) my (sister, uncle etc); classifier for families or businesses; refers to the philosophical schools of pre-Han China; noun suffix for a specialist in some act… |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 大院 | dà yuàn | courtyard; compound |
| 子 | zǐ | son; child; seed; egg; small thing; 1st earthly branch: 11 p.m.–1 a.m., midnight, 11th solar month (7th December to 5th January), year of the rat; viscount, fourth of five orders o… |
| 旁边 | páng biān | side; adjacent place |
| 山 | Shān | surname Shan |
| 河 | hé | river (CL:條|条[tiao2],道[dao4]); (bound form) the Yellow River; (bound form) the Milky Way; (bound form) (on restaurant menus) rice noodles 河粉[he2 fen3] |
| 早上 | zǎo shang | early morning; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 能 | Néng | surname Neng |
| 听见 | tīng jiàn | to hear |
| 鸟 | diǎo | variant of 屌[diao3]; penis |
| 叫 | jiào | to shout; to call; to order; to ask; to be called; by (indicates agent in the passive mood); variant of 叫[jiao4] |
| 晚上 | wǎn shang | evening; night; CL:個|个[ge4]; in the evening |
| 看见 | kàn jiàn | to see; to catch sight of |
| 多星 | duō xīng | starry |
| 星 | xīng | star; heavenly body; satellite; small amount |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 生 | shēng | to grow; to give birth; to produce; to be born; to arise; to occur; to light (a fire); to live; to be alive; life; raw; uncooked; unprocessed; unfamiliar; strange; (bound form) stu… |
| 活 | huó | to live; alive; living; work; workmanship |
| 健 | jiàn | healthy; to invigorate; to strengthen; to be good at; to be strong in |
| 康 | Kāng | surname Kang |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be |
| 大 | dà | big; large; great; older (than another person); eldest (as in 大姐[da4 jie3]); greatly; freely; fully; (dialect) father; (dialect) uncle (father's brother) |
| 医院 | yī yuàn | hospital; CL:所[suo3],家[jia1],座[zuo4] |
| 好学 | hǎo xué | easy to learn |
| 校 | jiào | to check; to collate; to proofread |
| 要 | yāo | (bound form) to demand; to coerce |
| 开车 | kāi chē | to drive a car (or train etc); (slang) to post sexual content online; to make a sexual joke |
| 去 | qù | to go; to go to (a place); (of a time etc) last; just passed; to send; to remove; to get rid of; to reduce; to be apart from in space or time; to die (euphemism); to play (a part);… |
| 远 | yuǎn | far; distant; remote; (intensifier in a comparison) by far; much (lower etc) |
| 可 | kě | (prefix) can; may; able to; -able; to approve; to permit; to suit; (particle used for emphasis) certainly; very; but; however |
| 中间 | zhōng jiān | the middle; the inside; in the middle; within; between; among; during; in the meantime |
| 比 | Bǐ | Belgium; Belgian; abbr. for 比利時|比利时[Bi3 li4 shi2] |
| 大一 | dà yī | first year of university |
| 点 | diǎn | to touch briefly; to tap; to mark with a dot; to check off (on a list); to order (food etc); to select; to mention; to bring up (a topic or person); to hint at; to imply; to admini… |
| 便 | biàn | plain; informal; suitable; convenient; opportune; to urinate or defecate; equivalent to 就[jiu4]: then; in that case; even if; soon afterwards |
| 宜 | Yí | surname Yi |
| 一点 | yī diǎn | a bit; a little bit; (used in negative expressions) (not) the least bit; (after an adjective, used to form the comparative) a bit more, -er; a point (in a discussion etc); (calligr… |
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 班 | Bān | surname Ban |
| 坐 | Zuò | surname Zuo |
| 长 | cháng | long; (bound form) length; (bound form) strong point; forte; (bound form) to be good at; (literary) surplus; spare (Taiwan pr. [zhang4]) |
| 时间 | shí jiān | (concept of) time; (duration of) time; (point in) time |
| 觉得 | jué de | to think that ...; to feel that ...; to feel (uncomfortable etc) |
| 年轻 | nián qīng | young |
| 最好 | zuì hǎo | best; had better ...; it would be best to ... |
| 因为 | yīn wèi | because; owing to; on account of |
| 有了 | yǒu le | I've got a solution!; to have a bun in the oven (abbr. for 有了胎[you3 le5 tai1]) |
| 孩子 | hái zi | child |
| 可以 | kě yǐ | can; may; possible; able to; not bad; pretty good |
| 搬 | bān | to move (i.e. relocate oneself); to move (sth relatively heavy or bulky); to shift; to copy indiscriminately |
| 到 | dào | to reach; to arrive; to leave for; to go to; to (a place); until (a time); up to (a point); (verb complement indicating arriving at a place or reaching a point); considerate; thoug… |
| 这 | zhè | (pronoun) this; these; (bound form) this; the (followed by a noun); (bound form) this; these (followed by a classifier) (in this sense, commonly pr. [zhei4], esp. in Beijing) |
| 样 | yàng | manner; pattern; way; appearance; shape; classifier: kind, type |
| 上好 | shàng hǎo | first-rate; top-notch |
| 学校 | xué xiào | school; CL:所[suo3] |
| 老 | lǎo | prefix used before the surname of a person or a numeral indicating the order of birth of the children in a family or to indicate affection or familiarity; old (of people); venerabl… |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause); (bound form) clear in one's mind; to understand clearly |
| 地 | de | -ly; structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 每个 | měi gè | each; every |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 最 | zuì | variant of 最[zui4]; old variant of 最[zui4]; (before an adjective or verb) to the highest degree; (the) most ...; -est; (after 之[zhi1]) best or most extreme example (e.g. 世界之最[shi4 jie4 zhi1 zui4] "the greatest in the world") |
| 重要 | zhòng yào | important; significant; major |
| 你 | nǐ | you (informal, as opposed to courteous 您[nin2]); you (Note: In Taiwan, 妳 is used to address females, but in mainland China, it is not commonly used. Instead, 你 is used to address both males and females.) |
| 想要 | xiǎng yào | to want to; to feel like; to fancy; to care for sb; desirous of |
| 什 | shén | what |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
I often think: where would be good to live in the future? Should I live in the city, or live in the countryside, or live in the suburbs?
I currently live in the city. The city has many advantages. There are many shops, restaurants, and subway stations here. When I want to buy something, it only takes a five-minute walk. When I want to watch a movie, it’s also very convenient. But the city also has its downsides. There are too many people, too many cars, and the air quality is not good. The houses are both small and expensive.
My friend lives in the countryside. His home has a big yard, with mountains and a river nearby. In the morning, you can hear birds singing, and at night, you can see many stars. He says life in the countryside is very peaceful and also very healthy. But the countryside doesn’t have big hospitals or good schools. To buy things, you have to drive to places very far away.
The suburbs might be a middle-ground choice. The suburbs are quieter than the city, and the air is better than in the city. The houses are a bit bigger and also a bit cheaper. But when going to work, you might have to sit in a vehicle for a very long time.
I think when you’re young, living in the city is best, because it’s convenient and there are many opportunities. After having children, you can move to the suburbs, so the children have a big house and can also attend good schools. After getting old, I want to live in the countryside and spend my days peacefully.
Every place has its good points and its bad points. The most important thing is: what kind of life do you want?