旅游
to travel; tourism
lǚyóu
What does 旅游 mean?
旅游 (lǚyóu) means 'to travel for pleasure' or 'tourism' — going somewhere as a visitor to sightsee, relax, or experience a place, not for work or to live there. It works as both a verb (我喜欢旅游 'I like to travel') and a noun (出国旅游 'overseas tourism'). The standard pattern is 去 + place + 旅游: 去日本旅游 ('go to Japan to travel'). Two distinctions matter for English speakers.
First, 旅游 is leisure travel only — moving to a new city, traveling for business, or commuting is not 旅游. Second, the close cousin 旅行 (lǚxíng) overlaps but feels slightly more general or formal — 旅行 covers any kind of trip, including business or long journeys, while 旅游 always implies sightseeing and enjoyment. Tourists are 游客 (yóukè); the travel industry is 旅游业 (lǚyóuyè).
Character breakdown
to travel; journey
to roam; to swim; to tour
Memory hook: 旅 ('journey') + 游 ('roam') — a journey of roaming, i.e. tourism.
Example sentences
我喜欢旅游。
Wǒ xǐhuan lǚyóu.
I like to travel.
spoken
明年我想去日本旅游。
Míngnián wǒ xiǎng qù Rìběn lǚyóu.
Next year I want to travel to Japan.
neutral
他们一家人去北京旅游了。
Tāmen yì jiā rén qù Běijīng lǚyóu le.
Their whole family went to Beijing for a trip.
spoken
你常常出国旅游吗？
Nǐ chángcháng chū guó lǚyóu ma?
Do you often travel abroad?
spoken
旅游可以让人放松。
Lǚyóu kěyǐ ràng rén fàngsōng.
Traveling can help people relax.
neutral
Common phrases with 旅游
Synonyms
旅行 is the broader word — any trip, including business travel, long journeys, or relocating temporarily. 旅游 specifically implies leisure sightseeing. A 商务旅行 (business trip) is not 旅游.
出去玩 ('go out and play / have fun') is a casual spoken phrase for any outing — could be a weekend trip or just dinner out. 旅游 implies a real trip away from home.
游玩 means 'to tour and play' — sightseeing on a smaller scale, often a single park or scenic spot. 旅游 covers the whole trip; 游玩
Don't confuse 旅游 with
Very close in meaning. 旅行 is more general (any trip), 旅游 is specifically leisure travel. In daily speech they often swap, but 商务旅行 'business trip' never becomes 商务旅游.
Both contain 游, but 游泳 means 'to swim.' 游 alone can mean 'roam' or 'swim' — context decides. 旅游 is travel; 游泳 is swimming.
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