Difference between 北边 and 北部 Hi All, I'm working my way through a textbook learning Chinese (Mandarin/Simplified) and I came across the word for north (北边) and I went looking for the other compass points only to discover that Google translator lists the directions with a different character(北部). Translating these words on their own (which I know isn't always a fruitful exercise) puts 部 as meaning department and 边 as meaning edge. I can only imagine that these different configurations have subtly different meanings depending on context. I would appreciate any assistance anyone would be able to give me with this, Thanks, Phil