山脉 shānmài mountain range
How to remember 山脉: 山 mountain + 脉 a pulse = mountain range.
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How it is used
- The geographic term for a mountain range - 阿尔卑斯山脉横贯欧洲 (Ā'ěrbēisī shānmài héngguàn Ōuzhōu) the Alps run across Europe.
- Used with named ranges and in geography/geology; measure word 条 (yì tiáo shānmài).
- Distinct from a single 山 (mountain) and from 山岭 (visible ridges): 山脉 is the whole connected chain as a formal unit.