







骑鹤上扬州 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to desire to achieve multiple grand ambitions simultaneously, such as gaining high official status, accumulating immense wealth, and achieving immortality; to be overly greedy and harbor unrealistic fantasies”. Literally, “Riding a crane to Yangzhou”.
It is said that in ancient times, four young masters, Zhao, Qian, Sun, and Li, were drinking by the Slender West Lake in Yangzhou, discussing their ambitions.
Master Zhao said he was fortunate to have made friends and wished to become the governor of Yangzhou.
Master Sun, on the other hand, wished to ride a red-crowned, white-feathered immortal crane to live out his remaining years in the celestial palaces.
Master Li declared that he wanted to have ten myriad strings of cash (immense wealth) and then ride an immortal crane to Yangzhou for his official appointment.
The others teased him, saying he was too impatient to drink hot porridge, implying he wanted everything at once and too quickly.

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Open the tool →骑鹤上扬州 (qí hè shàng yáng zhōu) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to desire to achieve multiple grand ambitions simultaneously, such as gaining high official status, accumulating immense wealth, and achieving immortality; to be overly greedy and harbor unrealistic fantasies”.
骑鹤上扬州 is pronounced qí hè shàng yáng zhōu in Mandarin Chinese.
Literally, 骑鹤上扬州 means “Riding a crane to Yangzhou”. It is used to mean “to desire to achieve multiple grand ambitions simultaneously, such as gaining high official status, accumulating immense wealth, and achieving immortality; to be overly greedy and harbor unrealistic fantasies”.
骑鹤上扬州 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
后因以比喻欲集做官、发财、成仙于一身,或形容贪婪、妄想。