郊区(jiāo qū) - suburb in Mandarin

郊区 (jiāoqū) is the suburb, the residential area on the edge of a city. 郊 (jiāo) on its own means "outskirts" and 区 (qū) means "area, district", so the compound is literally "outskirts district".

It sits opposite 市中心 (shì zhōngxīn), "city centre", or 市区 (shìqū), "urban area". Housing prices are the usual reason it comes up: 郊区的房子比较便宜 (jiāoqū de fángzi bǐjiào piányi), "houses in the suburbs are cheaper", is a very ordinary sentence in any conversation about where to live.

British learners sometimes reach for a word closer to "countryside", but 郊区 (jiāoqū) is still part of the city's commuter belt, not open farmland - that word is 农村 (nóngcūn), "the countryside, rural area".