人次

• Pinyin: rén cì
• Hanzi breakdown: 人 = 人 (person — the basic pictograph of a standing human); 次 = 冫+ 欠 (ice/pause + yawn — originally: the next in sequence; now: a time/instance)

Meaning

Person-time; a unit of measurement counting individual visits or instances, where the same person may be counted more than once for multiple visits or trips.

Fundamental in tourism, healthcare, and transport statistics: 参观人次 (visitor count), 就诊人次 (patient visits), 乘客人次. Distinct from 人数 (number of unique individuals) — 人次 accumulates across repeat visits.

Examples

1. 该博物馆去年全年接待观众逾三百万人次，创下建馆以来的历史最高纪录。 Last year, the museum welcomed more than three million visitors, setting an all-time record since it opened.
2. 春节黄金周期间，全国铁路累计发送旅客超过一亿人次，运输保障工作面临巨大压力。 During the Spring Festival Golden Week, China's railways carried more than 100 million passenger trips in total, putting enormous pressure on transport support operations.
3. 这家三甲医院的年门诊量已突破两百万人次，医疗资源紧张问题亟待有效缓解。 This top-tier hospital's annual outpatient visits have exceeded two million, and the strain on medical resources urgently needs effective relief.

Usage Guide

Context: statistics, tourism, healthcare, transport

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 根据交通部门发布的数据，今年上半年全国民航累计运送旅客三点二亿人次，同比增长百分之十二点七。(According to data released by the transport authorities, domestic civil aviation carried a cumulative total of 320 million passenger-trips in the first half of this year, an increase of 12.7 percent year-on-year.)
• 此次马拉松赛事共吸引来自五十个国家和地区的两万五千名选手报名参赛，预计赛事期间现场观赛及服务人次将超过十万。(This marathon event attracted 25,000 registered runners from fifty countries and regions; the total number of on-site spectators and service interactions during the event is expected to exceed 100,000 person-times.)

Don't Say

• 有五个人次来了 — use 有五个人来了 when referring to five distinct individuals; reserve 人次 for cumulative visit counts in statistics, not casual conversation

Origin & History

人 (person) + 次 (time/instance/order) — each individual visit counts as one unit

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal