桂花

• Pinyin: guì huā
• Hanzi breakdown: 桂 = 木 (tree) + 圭 (jade tablet — phonetic); 花 = 艹 (plant) + 化 (transform)

Meaning

Osmanthus; sweet osmanthus flower. A small, intensely fragrant flower widely used in Chinese cuisine, tea, and festival traditions.

One of the Ten Traditional Chinese Flowers, osmanthus blooms in autumn and is strongly associated with the Mid-Autumn Festival, the moon, and nostalgia. 桂花糕 (osmanthus cake), 桂花茶 (osmanthus tea), and 桂花酒 (osmanthus wine) are traditional foods. Hangzhou and Guilin are especially famous for their osmanthus trees.

Examples

1. 每到秋天，小区里的桂花树飘散出阵阵沁人心脾的香气。 Every autumn, the sweet osmanthus trees in the neighborhood give off waves of a fresh, soothing fragrance.
2. 外婆用新鲜桂花酿了一坛桂花酒，留待中秋节享用。 Grandma brewed a jar of osmanthus wine with fresh osmanthus flowers and saved it for the Mid-Autumn Festival.
3. 桂花在中国传统文化中象征着富贵与吉祥。 In traditional Chinese culture, osmanthus symbolizes wealth and good fortune.

Usage Guide

Context: culture, cuisine, seasonal, festival

Tone: warm

Do Say

• 中秋节前后，空气中弥漫着桂花的香味，让人顿感心旷神怡。(Around the Mid-Autumn Festival, the air is suffused with the fragrance of osmanthus blossoms, filling one with a sense of joy and tranquillity.)
• 这款桂花乌龙茶融合了桂花的清甜与乌龙茶的醇厚，层次十分丰富。(This osmanthus oolong tea blends the delicate sweetness of osmanthus with the mellow depth of oolong, creating a rich layered flavour.)

Don't Say

• 我想种一棵桂花苹果树 — 桂花 (osmanthus) and apple are completely different plants; use 桂花树 for the osmanthus tree and 苹果树 for the apple tree separately

Origin & History

桂 (osmanthus/cassia tree) + 花 (flower). 桂 originally referred to cinnamon or cassia; in modern Chinese it primarily denotes the osmanthus tree. The compound 桂花 is the specific name for the osmanthus blossom.

Cultural Context

Era: Ancient to present

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal