Chinese symbol for “upstream”
上游
shàng yóu
upper reaches (of a river); upper level; upper echelon; upstream
The closest CC-CEDICT match for upstream is 上游 (shàng yóu), defined as: upper reaches (of a river); upper level; upper echelon; upstream.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Other Chinese words for “upstream”
Related words
Other words that share a character with 上游.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 以上 | yǐ shàng | that level or higher; that amount or more; the above-mentioned |
| 晚上 | wǎn shang | evening; night |
| 身上 | shēn shang | on the body; at hand |
| 加上 | jiā shàng | to add; plus; in addition; moreover |
| 上面 | shàng miàn | on top of; above-mentioned |
| 实际上 (實際上) | shí jì shàng | in fact; in reality |
| 游戏 (遊戲) | yóu xì | game (场 (chǎng)); to play |
| 旅游 (旅遊) | lǚ yóu | trip; journey |
See also: Japanese symbol for “upstream”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.