In his study of place-names in China, J. E. Spencer notes that "although Chinese names indicate both domestic cultural and geographical influences, they almost never indicate cultural influence from other parts of the world",[1] a tendency that also appeared to be characteristic of Chinese place-names in Singapore.
[2] Tibetan, Mongolian, Uighur and tribal minorities of China's names are phonetically transcribed into Chinese.
[3] Names for places in China, when referred to in Chinese contain a class identifier.
Some mountain ranges like Tian Shan are referred to English by the Chinese name.
E = English, C = Chinese, P = Pinyin Chinese reckon five directions: From the early concept of yin and yang (阴 and 阳), originally based upon exposure to the sun, many placenames also incorporate them.