中央直辖市

zhōng yāng zhí xiá shì

municipality, namely: Beijing 北京, Tianjin 天津, Shanghai 上海 and Chongqing 重慶|重庆, the first level administrative subdivision

province level city; also called directly governed city

中

zhōng

(bound form) China; Chinese

央

yāng

center

直

zhí

straight

辖

xiá

linchpin (used to fasten a wheel to an axle)

市

shì

market