辽A 12345
辽 plates: Liaoning, and what the letters mean
Facts checked
A plate beginning 辽 was registered in Liaoning, a province. The character is Liáo, said roughly “lyow (rhymes with 'how')”. 辽 is taken from the Liao River (辽河), which runs through the province. 辽宁 Liáoníng, coined in 1929, reads as 'the Liao [region] pacified'.
The letter after it is the office that issued the plate. 辽A belongs to Shenyang, and 15 further letters are recorded below.
The colour of the plate is a separate fact from the characters: it says what kind of vehicle carries it, and the characters say nothing about it. The colour guide sets out what each of the 7 colours licenses.
Key facts
| Plate character | 辽 “lyow (rhymes with 'how')” |
|---|---|
| Place | Liaoning |
| Kind | province |
| Capital | Shenyang |
| City letters | 16 |
| Why this character | 辽 is taken from the Liao River (辽河), which runs through the province. 辽宁 Liáoníng, coined in 1929, reads as 'the Liao [region] pacified'. |
The city letters
- 辽A Shenyang
- 辽B Dalian
- 辽C Anshan
- 辽D Fushun
- 辽E Benxi
- 辽F Dandong
- 辽G Jinzhou
- 辽H Yingkou
- 辽J Fuxin
- 辽K Liaoyang
- 辽L Panjin
- 辽M Tieling
- 辽N Chaoyang
- 辽O Liaoning public security and foreign-invested vehicles
- 辽P Huludao
- 辽V Liaoning provincial-government system
| Prefix | Letter | City | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 辽A | A | Shenyang | Taxi blocks run EA000–EZ999, GA000–GZ999 and MA000–MZ999. |
| 辽B | B | Dalian | 辽BT is the taxi block. |
| 辽C | C | Anshan | |
| 辽D | D | Fushun | |
| 辽E | E | Benxi | |
| 辽F | F | Dandong | |
| 辽G | G | Jinzhou | |
| 辽H | H | Yingkou | |
| 辽J | J | Fuxin | |
| 辽K | K | Liaoyang | |
| 辽L | L | Panjin | |
| 辽M | M | Tieling | |
| 辽N | N | Chaoyang | |
| 辽O | O | Liaoning public security and foreign-invested vehicles | Retired; English Wikipedia dates the phase-out to 2014. |
| 辽P | P | Huludao | |
| 辽V | V | Liaoning provincial-government system |
Liaoning plates: questions people ask
- What does 辽 mean on a Chinese licence plate?
- 辽 (Liáo, "lyow (rhymes with 'how')") is the abbreviation for Liaoning. 辽 is taken from the Liao River (辽河), which runs through the province. 辽宁 Liáoníng, coined in 1929, reads as 'the Liao [region] pacified'.
- Which city is 辽A?
- Shenyang. The letter A goes to the seat of government in almost every province, and the remaining letters were assigned to the other issuing offices.
- How many plate letters does Liaoning use?
- 16 are recorded here, A to V. A retired or reassigned letter keeps its note in the table.
Related
Sources for Liaoning
- Wikipedia (Chinese), 中华人民共和国民用机动车号牌 (Civil motor-vehicle registration plates of the People's Republic of China). Read . Carries the complete province-by-province table of issuing-office letters, with the retired and renumbered series footnoted to Chinese news and public-security sources. Used as a finding aid; wording here is our own.
- Wikipedia, Vehicle registration plates of China. Read . English list of prefixes; the article flags its own list as incomplete, so it is used here to cross-check the Chinese table rather than as the primary record.