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The official phonetic system of romanizing
Chinese is pinyin. Pinyin means "phonetic transcription." Since
1958, pinyin has been the officially endorsed system in The
People's republic of China. It replaces the old system
promulgated by the British called "Wade/Giles." Much of
literature about China uses the old system. Many maps also have
this old Wade/Giles system. Under this new pinyin, the
pronunciation is much closer to the actual sounds used by the
Chinese. For example the old Soochow is now Suzhou, correctly
pronounced Su-joe, not Su-chow. Names in Wade/Giles such as Tsingtao properly
pronounced as "Ching Dow Oh" is now spelled Qingdao.
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Consonants
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C
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Ts as in Its in
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Lancang River
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Q
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Ch as in Chair
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Qin Dynasty, Qinghai
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X
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Sh as in She
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Deng Xiaoping, Xinjiang, Wuxi
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D
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Ds as in buds
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Mao Zedong, jiaozi
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Zh
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J as in jump
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Zhou Enlai, Zhengzhou
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Vowels and Combinations
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A
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A as in Father
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Han Dynasty, Datong, Badaling
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AI
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AI as in Aisle
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Hainan, Shanghai, Mount Tai
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E (not before n or ng)
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oo as in hook
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Hebei, Zhejiang
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E (before n or ng)
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E as in U in sun
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Deng, Chengdu, Zhenjiang
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I (1)
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I as in Machine
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Jilin, Harbin
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I (2) after ch, r, sh, zh
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IR as in Sir
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Qin Shi, Shashi
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IA
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Ya as in yard
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Jiayuguan, Xiamen
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IAN or YAN
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Yen
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Qian, Tiananmen, Fujian
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IU
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EO as in Leo (emphasis on the O)
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Liuzhou, Jiujiang
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O
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AW as in Law
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Bo Hai
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OU
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O as in Joke
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Zhou Dynasty, Yangzhou
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U (1)
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U as in prune
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Hubei, Gansu, Wuhan
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U (2)
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U as in pudding when syllable ends with n
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Sun Yat-sen Dunhuang
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Y (3)
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U as in French tu after j, q, x, y
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Qufu, Jiayuguan
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UI
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UI as Way
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Sui Dynasty, Guilin, Anhui
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