海滩

• Pinyin: hǎi tān
• Hanzi breakdown: 海 = 氵+ 每; 滩 = 氵(water) + 难 (difficult crossing) — a shallow or flat waterside area

Meaning

Beach; a sandy or pebbly shore along the sea.

Used in travel, environmental, and literary contexts. Common in discussions of tourism (沙滩、海滩度假), marine pollution (海滩污染), and ecological conservation. Also appears in news reports of maritime incidents such as strandings or oil spills.

Examples

1. 每逢夏季，这片著名的海滩便会吸引数以万计的游客前来度假休闲。 Every summer, this famous beach draws tens of thousands of visitors for vacations and leisure.
2. 志愿者们利用周末时间在海滩上捡拾垃圾，为保护海洋环境贡献力量。 Volunteers spend their weekends picking up trash on the beach, doing their part to protect the ocean environment.
3. 一场强台风过后，海滩上留下了大量被冲上岸的海洋生物和漂浮废弃物。 After a powerful typhoon, the beach was left with large amounts of marine life washed ashore along with floating debris.

Usage Guide

Context: travel, environment, news, leisure

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 当地政府投入大量资金整治海滩环境，使其重新成为适合游客休憩的场所。(The local government invested heavily in restoring the beach environment, making it once again suitable for tourists to relax.)
• 研究人员在这片海滩上发现了一种罕见的贝类物种，引发了科学界的高度关注。(Researchers discovered a rare species of shellfish on this beach, drawing significant attention from the scientific community.)

Don't Say

• 在河边用海滩 — use 河滩 for riverbanks; 海滩 is specifically for coastal ocean beaches

Origin & History

海 (sea) + 滩 (shoal, beach, flat) — the flat sandy area beside the sea

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal