people mountain people sea

English

Etymology

Calque of Chinese 人山人海 (rénshānrénhǎi).

Idiom

people mountain people sea

1. (China) crowded or jam-packed with people
   • 2017 February 28, Kelvin Bei, Ravens' Haiku‎^[1], Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 23:

     People mountain / people sea / Heads bowed to phones / The road ahead unseen

   • 2019, Changming Yuan, “Trade Deficit: Chinese Exported into English”, in T. R. Mwanaka, editor, Nationalism: (mis)understanding Donald Trump's Capitalism, Racism, Global Politics, International Trade and Media Wars‎^[2], volume 2, →ISBN:

     Jenny was lost among people mountain people sea. I don't blame her in such a gunvernment celebration.

   • 2020 October 26, Li Hou, Building for Oil: Daqing and the Formation of the Chinese Socialist State, BRILL, →ISBN, page 19:

     However, this rule seems to have been overturned in the PRC with its "people mountain people sea" strategy that played an important role in the successful exploration of mining resources, assisted by advanced technologies and heavy investments (see fig 1.5 for another example of this strategy in action).

   • 2023 May 4, Wenyan Lu, The Funeral Cryer, Atlantic Books, →ISBN:

     I didn't want to be part of Shanghai. I preferred to be an obscure visitor in Shanghai with nobody noticing me. I was fascinated by its noise and the people mountain, people sea.