城吃镇，镇吃乡，乡人吃到老荒庄城吃鎮，鎮吃鄉，鄉人吃到老荒莊城吃鎮，鎮吃鄉，鄉人吃到老荒莊

the city feeds off the town, the town off the countryside, and country folk end up feeding off the barren village

Saying俗语俗語

Proverb谚语諺語 · Rarely used now

Meaning: In a small-farm society each level lives off the one below it, and the villagers at the bottom have the hardest lives. It describes a social order rather than mocking anyone.

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Simplified: 城吃镇，镇吃乡，乡人吃到老荒庄
Traditional (Taiwan): 城吃鎮，鎮吃鄉，鄉人吃到老荒莊
Pinyin: chéng chī zhèn, zhèn chī xiāng, xiāng rén chī dào lǎo huāng zhuāng
Bopomofo: ㄔㄥˊ ㄔㄓㄣˋ，ㄓㄣˋ ㄔㄒㄧㄤ，ㄒㄧㄤㄖㄣˊ ㄔㄉㄠˋ ㄌㄠˇ ㄏㄨㄤㄓㄨㄤ

Written with HSK 7-9 vocabulary, at CEFR level C1.

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