(lóu): building, floor

(lóu) is a Chinese character meaning “building, floor.” Classified as HSK Level 2 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (semantic) and (phonetic). It ranks #876 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, wood. Its radical form (tree) appears in many related characters such as (běn, (bound form) root), (, machine, opportunity), (tiáo, strip).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. building, floor

Etymology & Origin

pictophoneticwood

Decomposition: ⿰木娄 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

Practice writing with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
nounlóu tīstair3
nounlóu dàocorridor6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
dà lóubuilding (a relatively large, multistory one)
lóu shàngupstairs
lóu xiàdownstairs
gé lóugarret
shàng lóuto go upstairs
lóu dǐngtop of a building
dǐng lóutop floor
lóu céngfloor
zhōng lóubell tower
tǎ lóutower (of building)
gōng yù lóuapartment building
lóu fánga building of two or more stories
tiào lóuto jump from a building (to kill oneself)
mó tiān dà lóuskyscraper
bàn gōng lóuoffice building
100
Total compounds
27
As first character
59
As last character
14
As middle character

appears in 100 compound words: 27 as the first character, 59 as the last, and 14 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

céng
0.56753,507 co-occurrences
0.56323,086 co-occurrences
dòng
0.5408,806 co-occurrences
zhōng
0.53825,362 co-occurrences
yūn
0.53612 co-occurrences
0.51620,454 co-occurrences
0.50912,054 co-occurrences
háng
0.49843,230 co-occurrences
mèng
0.4899,522 co-occurrences
chuáng
0.4794,098 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (7)

gāolóudàshàHSK 5+

high-rise building

phrase
jìnshuǐlóutáiHSK 4+

to have a close relationship with someone or be in close proximity to something, which confers advantages

phrase
kōngzhōnglóugéHSK 7+

castle in the air; illusion

phrase
mótiān dàlóuHSK 6+

skyscraper

noun
tíngtáilóugéHSK 7+

pavilions, terraces and towers (in general); traditional Chinese architecture

phrase
hǎishìshènlóuHSK 3+

mirage (optical illusion); castles in the air; illusion

noun
qiónglóuyùyǔHSK 7+

the palace of the Moon; splendid building

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这栋办公有三十层,是这一带最高的建筑之一。

Zhè dòng bàngōnglóu yǒu sānshí céng, shì zhè yí dài zuì gāo de jiànzhù zhī yī.

This office building has thirty floors and is one of the tallest buildings in the area.

NewsFeb 2026

云林大黄狗被人从5丢下“凶手抓到了” 虐狗原因曝光

yún lín dà huáng gǒu bèi rén cóng lóu diū xià xiōng shǒu zhuā dào le nüè gǒu yuán yīn pù guāng

Large Yellow Dog in Yunlin Thrown from 5th Floor; "Perpetrator Caught" Reason for Dog Abuse Exposed

NewsFeb 2026

为什么百货公司一没厕?背后原因超心机

wéi shén má bǎi huò gōng sī yī lóu méi cè ? bèi hòu yuán yīn chāo xīn jī

Why Are There No Restrooms on the First Floor of Department Stores? The Reason Behind It Is Super Cunning

NewsFeb 2026

大黄狗遭3丢下!肝脏碎裂 民众救援心疼

dà huáng gǒu zāo lóu diū xià ! gān zāng suì liè mín zhòng jiù yuán xīn téng

Large Yellow Dog Thrown from Third Floor! Liver Shattered as Bystanders Rush to Rescue in Heartbreak

NewsFeb 2026

珍惜生命|秀茂坪顺利邨45岁妇堕 昏迷送院抢救不治

zhēn xī shēng mìng xiù mào píng shùn lì 邨 suì fù duò lóu hūn mí sòng yuàn qiǎng jiù bù zhì

Cherish Life | 45-Year-Old Woman Falls from Building in Shui Mau Ping Shun Lee Estate, Dies After Being Hospitalized in Coma

Tatoeba

我们面前的这幢高是什么?

Wǒmen miànqián de zhè zhuàng gāolóu shì shénme?

What is that big building in front of us?

Tatoeba

我们可以在大里拍照吗?

Wǒmen kěyǐ zài dàlóu lǐ pāizhào ma?

Is it all right to take pictures in this building?

Tatoeba

你在阁上做了什么?

Nǐ zài gélóu shàng zuò le shénme?

What were you doing in the attic?

Tatoeba

你进这幢的时候是几点?

Nǐ jìn zhè zhuàng lóu de shíhou shì jǐ diǎn?

What time was it when you entered the building?

Tatoeba

汤姆在上睡觉呢,是吧?

Tāngmǔ zài lóushàng shuìjiào ne, shì ba?

Tom is sleeping upstairs, isn't he?

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced lóu

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 楼 (lóu) mean in Chinese?
楼 (lóu) primarily means "building, floor." It is classified as HSK Level 2, making it a beginner-level character. It ranks #876 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 楼 and 数?
楼 (lóu) and 数 (shǔ) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 木 vs 攵 (same 娄 component).
How many strokes does 楼 have?
楼 is written with 13 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 楼?
The radical associated with 楼 is 木 (tree). This radical appears in many characters related to tree.
What are the components of 楼?
楼 is composed of: 木 (semantic), 娄 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰木娄 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 楼?
Common words with 楼 include: 大楼 (dà lóu, "building (a relatively large, multistory one)"); 楼上 (lóu shàng, "upstairs"); 楼下 (lóu xià, "downstairs"); 楼梯 (lóu tī, "stair"); 阁楼 (gé lóu, "garret"). There are over 100 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 楼 (lóu)?
Several characters share the pronunciation lóu: 搂 (to draw towards oneself), 陋 (low), 漏 (to leak). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 楼 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
No. The simplified form is 楼 and the traditional form is 樓.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.