Xiāng gé lǐ lādictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
Shangri-la, the beautiful, idyllic land of James Hilton's 1933 novel "Lost Horizon" / a paradise on earth / see 香格里拉市[Xiāng gé lǐ lā Shì]
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-6bbb7f1175adae63. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

香格里拉 香格里拉 [Xiang1 ge2 li3 la1] /Shangri-la, the beautiful, idyllic land of James Hilton's 1933 novel "Lost Horizon"; a paradise on earth/see 香格里拉市[Xiang1 ge2 li3 la1 Shi4]/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

  • 香
    xiāng

    fragrant / sweet smelling / aromatic / savory or appetizing / (to eat) with relish / (of sleep) sound / perfume or spice / joss or incense stick / CL:根[gēn]

  • 格
    gē

    used in 格登[gē dēng] / used in 格格[gē gē]

    gé

    square / lattice / grid / frame / compartment / partition / slot (within a larger unit) / (bound form) standard / norm / specification / (bound form) character / disposition / moral quality / style / aesthetic tone / (bound form) rhetorical form / stylistic pattern / (bound form) (linguistics) grammatical case / (literary) to correct / to rectify / (literary) to arrive at / to reach / (literary) to obstruct / to hinder / (literary) to investigate exhaustively / classifier for compartments, slots or cells within a larger unit

  • 里
    lǐ

    lining / interior / inside / internal / also written 裏|里[lǐ] / li, ancient measure of length, approx. 500 m / neighborhood / ancient administrative unit of 25 families / (Tw) borough, administrative unit between the township 鎮|镇[zhèn] and neighborhood 鄰|邻[lín] levels

    Lǐ

    surname Li

  • 拉
    lā

    to pull / to play (a bowed instrument) / to drag / to draw / to chat / (coll.) to empty one's bowels

    lá

    to make a cut in (sth) / to slit / to gash / to slash

    là

    used in 拉拉蛄[là là gǔ]

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.