How to Say "Los Angeles" in Chinese

洛杉矶

luòshānjī

Los Angeles is translated into Chinese as 洛杉矶 (luòshānjī).

洛杉矶 is the name for the largest city in California.

Meaning: largest city in California (name)

Which one should you use?

洛杉矶 is the standard name for the city, whereas 洛城 is an informal shorthand that translates to "The City of Angels".

luòshānjī

In Chinese, the word for 'angel' is 天使, but this word is never used in the standard phonetic translation 洛杉矶.
The first character 洛 refers to the Luo River in China, meaning the city is associated with a specific ancient Chinese geographic landmark by sheer phonetic coincidence.
The character 杉 in 洛杉矶 specifically refers to a type of coniferous tree, such as a fir or cedar. This is a purely coincidental phonetic choice and has nothing to do with the city's geography.

他登上了前往洛杉矶的飞机。
He boarded a plane bound for Los Angeles.
This sentence is useful for seeing how to use 洛杉矶 in the context of travel.
Tatoeba #332584 by fucongcong, translation #293369 by CN
洛杉矶是美国加利福尼亚州最大的城市之一。
Los Angeles is one of the largest cities in the state of California, USA.
我计划下个月去洛杉矶旅行。
I plan to travel to Los Angeles next month.
昨天我在洛城度过了美好的时光。
Yesterday, I had a wonderful time in Los Angeles.
洛杉矶的天气很晴朗。
Luòshānjī de tiānqì hěn qínglǎng.
The weather in Los Angeles is very sunny.
我想去洛杉矶旅游。
Wǒ xiǎng qù Luòshānjī lǚyóu.
I want to travel to Los Angeles.

Two friends are talking about their vacation plans in a cafe.

雨婷 Yuting

你打算去哪里度假？
Nǐ dǎsuàn qù nǎlǐ dùjià?
Where do you plan to go for vacation?
俊杰 Junjie

我打算去洛杉矶。
Wǒ dǎsuàn qù Luòshānjī.
I plan to go to Los Angeles.
雨婷 Yuting

洛杉矶是个好地方。
Luòshānjī shì gè hǎo dìfāng.
Los Angeles is a great place.
俊杰 Junjie

是的，我很期待。
Shì de, wǒ hěn qīdài.
Yes, I am looking forward to it.

Sources

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