Quick Guidelines & Tables to Generate Chinese Town & City Names

Chinese town and city names are usually made up of two syllables. The first syllable would usually be an adjective or a proper noun, and the second syllable a common noun, most frequently a proper noun such as "prefecture", "capital city", etc.

Some examples from actual Chinese place names:

Capital cities: ending in -jīng:
Běijīng = Northern (běi) + capital city (jīng)
Dōngjīng = Eastern (dōng) + capital city (jīng)
Nánjīng = Southern (nán) + capital city (jīng)
Shèngjīng = flourishing (shèng) + capital city (jīng)

Prefectural seats: ending in -zhōu:
Guǎngzhōu = Guǎng (name of the province) + prefecture (zhōu)
Hángzhōu = Háng (proper noun) + prefecture (zhōu)
Lánzhōu = orchid (lán) + prefecture (zhōu)
Quánzhōu = source (quán) + prefecture (zhōu)
Sūzhōu = Sū (proper noun) + prefecture (zhōu)
Zhèngzhōu = Zhèng (name of an ancient state) + prefecture (zhōu)

Medium-sized cities: ending in -chéng or in -dū
Áodū = Áo (proper noun) + city (dū)
Běidū = Northern (běi) + city (dū)
Chéngdū = Chéng (proper noun) + city (dū)
Dàdū = large (dà) + city (dū)
Guīchéng = turtle (guī) + city (chéng)
Jǐnchéng = brocade (jǐn) + city (chéng)
Róngchéng = hibiscus (róng) + city (chéng)

River-name-based city names:
Hànkǒu = Hàn (name of the river that flows through the city) + river mouth (kǒu)
Hànyáng = Hàn (name of the river that flows through the city) + river bank (yáng)
Luòyáng = Luò (name of the river that flows through the city) + river bank (yáng)
Shěnyáng = Shěn (name of the river that flows through the city) + river bank (yáng)

Miscellaneous names:
Bǎo'ān = precious (bǎo) + peace (ān)
Cháng'ān = long (cháng) + peace (ān)
Chóngqìng = double (chóng) + celebration (qìng)
Fóshān = Buddha (Fó) + mountain (shān)
Guìlín = olive tree (guì) + forest (lín)
Lín'ān = descending (lín) + peace (ān)
Níngbō = tranquil (níng) + waves (bō) [Níngbō is a port city]
Qīngdǎo = azure (qīng) + island (dǎo)
Qìngyáng = celebration (qìng) + river bank (yáng)
Rìzhào = sun (rì) + shine (zhào)
Shàoxīng = continue (shào) + thrive (xīng)
Tiānjīn = sky (tiān) + ferry (jīn) [Tiānjīn is a port city]
Xī'ān = Western (xī) + peace (ān)

The above examples should enable you to create on-the-fly city names when needed. Here are some more guidelines:

For a large city, the easiest is <a syllable>+zhōu. The first syllable being quite often a proper name, you may use the sample surnames from p8 of the rule book, or alternatively one of the following:

• Bái: white
• Běi: Northern
• Dōng: Eastern
• Hēi: black
• Hóng: red
• Huáng: yellow
• Nán: Southern
• Níng: tranquil
• Qīng: azure
• Xī: Western
• Zhōng: central

For a medium-sized city, roll 2D10 and refer to the following table:
die roll – 1st syllable – 2nd syllable
1 – Běi – 'ān
2 – Xī – dǎo
3 – Hé – mén
4 – Jiāng – chéng
5 – Zhōng – chuān
6 – Hú – dū
7 – Qīng – lín
8 – Dōng – shān
9 – Nán – yáng
0 – <use a syllable from the table of surnames> – zhuāng

Smaller settlements can simply be named “<surname> family village”, <surname> being the most common surname in the area, or the surname of the foremost local clan, e.g., the notorious Zhù Family Village in the Water Margin.