比肩继踵 — “To be crowded together”

比肩继踵 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to be crowded together”. Describing a very large and dense crowd of people, where everyone is standing very close to one another. Literally, “Shoulder to shoulder, heel to heel”.

Frequency

比肩继踵 Pronunciation and Pinyin

比肩继踵 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
比	bǐ	4	compare, compete, or ratio
肩	jiān	8	shoulder
继	jì	10	continue, succeed, inherit
踵	zhǒng	16	heel; follow closely; arrive

Example Sentence with 比肩继踵

节假日期间，热门景点常常游人如织，比肩继踵，热闹非凡。

During holidays, popular tourist attractions are often packed with visitors, standing shoulder to shoulder and heel to heel, bustling with activity.

Origin and Story of 比肩继踵

During the Spring and Autumn Period, Yan Ying, a high official from the State of Qi, was sent as an envoy to the State of Chu. The King of Chu, seeing Yan Ying was short, remarked, "Does the State of Qi have no talented people, that they send you?"

Yan Ying cleverly replied, "The capital of Qi, Linzi, has 30,000 households. So many people that they can wipe their sweat to form rain, and on the main streets, pedestrians are shoulder to shoulder and heel to heel, incredibly lively and bustling."

The King of Chu was greatly impressed by his wit and subsequently treated him with high regard and respect.