# 离乡背井

lí xiāng bèi jǐng

Leave one’s home and familiar community

## Meaning & wording

**Literally:** Leave the hometown and turn one’s back on its well

**Traditional Chinese:** 離鄉背井

**Register:** Standard · expressive

[Change & possibility](https://chinese-idioms.yudis.dev/idioms/topics/change)

## When to use it

Describe migration prompted by work, hardship, or necessity.

Usually carries homesickness or difficulty.

## Understanding the expression

The hometown and its well represent familiar daily life and community ties. Leaving them suggests more than a short holiday: the person goes elsewhere to work, escape hardship, or build a different life. The expression often carries sadness about separation. Leaving home can also bring opportunity, so the emotion need not be entirely negative. A concrete example shows both the reason for departure and the cost of being away from familiar people and surroundings.

## Examples

他离乡背井，到城里打工。

### Traditional Chinese

他離鄉背井，到城裡打工。

tā lí xiāng bèi jǐng ， dào chéng lǐ dǎ gōng 。

He left his hometown to work in the city.

灾后，他们离乡背井寻找住处。

### Traditional Chinese

災後，他們離鄉背井尋找住處。

zāi hòu ， tā men lí xiāng bèi jǐng xún zhǎo zhù chù 。

After the disaster, they left home to find somewhere to live.

她不想离乡背井，却缺少工作机会。

### Traditional Chinese

她不想離鄉背井，卻缺少工作機會。

tā bù xiǎng lí xiāng bèi jǐng ， què quē shǎo gōng zuò jī huì 。

She did not want to leave home, but work opportunities were scarce.

离乡背井多年，他仍记得老街。

### Traditional Chinese

離鄉背井多年，他仍記得老街。

lí xiāng bèi jǐng duō nián ， tā réng jì de lǎo jiē 。

Years after leaving home, he still remembered the old street.

## Sources & reference checks

Original explanations and examples from Chinese Idioms Almanac. Source-checked October 6, 2026.

- [CC-CEDICT · forms & pronunciation](https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?page=worddict&wdqb=%E9%9B%A2%E9%84%89%E8%83%8C%E4%BA%95)

- [Ministry of Education · 成語典](https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/idiomView.jsp?ID=1031&webMd=1&la=0)

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