青梅竹马

qīng méi zhú mǎ

lit. green plums and hobby-horse (idiom)

fig. innocent children's games; childhood sweethearts; a couple who grew up as childhood friends

青

qīng

abbr. for 青海[Qing1 hai3], Qinghai Province

梅

méi

old variant of 梅[mei2]

竹

zhú

(bound form) bamboo

马

mǎ

abbr. for Malaysia 馬來西亞|马来西亚[Ma3 lai2 xi1 ya4]