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ticket

piào
11 strokes · 覀 (cover) + 示 (altar) — originally fire leaping: what flits from hand to hand · HSK 2

Where 票 comes from

票 originally described flames leaping and flickering — lightness in motion. The sense of 'fluttering slip of paper' grew from that flicker: tickets, notes, ballots — paper that flies between hands.

票 in Chinese culture

票 admits you to modern China: 火车票 (train ticket — the Spring Festival's most fought-over object), 门票 (entrance ticket), 发票 (the official receipt ritual of every business meal), 投票 (to vote — 'cast a slip'). During 春运, the New Year migration, billions of 票 move a nation home. No 票, no entry: it's the paper that opens doors.

Example

火车票 huǒchēpiào — train ticket

我买了两张电影票。
Wǒ mǎi le liǎng zhāng diànyǐngpiào.
I bought two movie tickets.

How to remember it

The slip that flickers from hand to hand — TICKET.

春运 (Spring Festival travel) sells billions of 火车票 in weeks — history's largest annual human migration, run on tickets.

Same sound, different tones

1st piāo
to float
4th piào
ticket
4th piào
(in 漂亮: pretty)

Words unlocked by 票

火车票 huǒchēpiào
train ticket
门票 ménpiào
entrance ticket
发票 fāpiào
receipt / invoice
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