Zhabei

Zha·bei
Z10H4A1B3E1I1

proper noun

A former district of Shanghai, China, now merged with Jing'an.

Scrabble 20

Meanings

proper noun

alternative Chapei · alternative Cha-pei

  1. historicalA former district of Shanghai, China, now merged with Jing'an.

    On the waterfront, just outside the foreign settlements, the streets swarmed with filth-ridden beggars and coolies. Half an hour by car from the centre of the city lay the ruins of the Chinese suburb Cha-pei.

    A Comintern Agent in China 1932-1939

    [1982 [1975], Otto Braun, “Shanghai, 1932–1933”, in Jeanne Moore, transl., Chinesische Aufzeichnungen (1932-1939) 一个共产国际顾问在中国 [A Comintern Agent in China 1932-1939], Stanford, Cali.: Stanford University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 1
    1 more example

    Shanghai Railroad station, West Tianmu Road, Zhabei District, Shanghai The lady who's in charge of the money pot told me that most of the people who work in the toilets are paid about 1,200 RMB (€127) each month. It's less than the average wage in China (€200), but it's not bad. The toilet is managed by Amenities Authority under Zhabei District (Shanghai) local government, so excluding maintenance costs, the rest of the money turns into government revenue."

    2008 December 16, Xiaodong Du, “Shanghai's public toilets make pots of money”, in France 24, archived from the original on 10 Sep 2015

Origin

  1. Mandarin閘北 /闸北
  2. EnglishZhabei

The atonal Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 閘北 /闸北 (Zháběi, literally “area north of the sluices”), named after its position relative to two canal sluices constructed during the middle of the Qing dynasty.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Cantonese 閘北 /闸北
  • 閘北 /闸北Former district of Shanghai, China
Chinese Mandarin 閘北 /闸北
  • 閘北 /闸北 (Zháběi)Former district of Shanghai, China
Cite this entry
APA

Zhabei. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Zhabei

MLA

“Zhabei.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Zhabei. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Zhabei,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Zhabei.

Source: Zhabei on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.