Where does “北上廣深” come from?

北上廣深 (Chinese) comes from Chinese 上海 — Downtown Shanghai; Inner-city Shanghai; Shanghai city center.

北上廣深 (Chinese): Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen

Definitions

  1. Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen

Ancestry of “北上廣深”, step by step

北上廣深 traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Chinese 上海

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Chinese上海Downtown Shanghai; Inner-city Shanghai; Shanghai city center

via Chinese 北京

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Chinese北京Beijing the government of the People's Republic of China

via Chinese 廣州

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Chinese廣州expansive district
Every word from Chinese 上海