How do you pronounce xuzhou?

Answer 1

Xuzhou, 徐州, in northern Jiangsu Province, is pronounced like "shoe - Joe" in English. For the tones, say "Xu" like a question with a rising (second) tone. For "zhou," just say it naturally since it is first tone. So, you could approximate the Chinese Mandarin (Putonghua) pronunciation by saying "Shoe? Joe." However, when booking train/plane tickets, be sure to show them the Chinese characters and stress that it's north of Nanjing to make sure they don't just assume you mean Suzhou next to Shanghai. That has happened to many foreigners trying to come here. Contributor: American teaching English in Xuzhou for 5 years. Actually, the reason Chinese people would assume you are saying "Suzhou" rather than "Xuzhou" is because the "sh" in "shoe," as the previous poster approximated above, is articulated in the almost same place as the "s" in "Suzhou." A better explanation of the pronunciation of the pinyin "x" above would be that you should try to say "shoe" with the tip of your tongue behind your lower front teeth when you say the "sh" part. Native English speakers can't hear the difference too well, but it can be vital if you're trying to get to "Xuzhou," not "Suzhou." :P