爬山
páshān · HSK 2
to go for a hike (esp. in the hills or mountains)
⛰️ 爬山 = crawl/climb (爬) + mountain (山)
爬 means to crawl or climb on hands and feet; 山 is the classic three-peak mountain pictograph. Together: climb a mountain, i.e. mountaineering.
爬 — claw 爪 (top) + 巴 (phonetic)
爬 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The top 爪 ('claw/hand') gives the meaning, suggesting the action of grasping or clambering with hands. The bottom 巴 supplies the sound, originally close to 'pa'. Together they convey crawling or climbing, as if pulling oneself up with claws.
山 — pictograph of three mountain peaks
山 is one of the oldest pictographs in Chinese, originally drawn in oracle bone script as three pointed peaks rising from a baseline. The form was simplified over time into the modern three vertical strokes on a base. Its meaning has stayed remarkably stable: 'mountain' or 'hill'.