| 上游 | shàng yóu | upper reaches (of a river) / upper level / upper echelon / upstream |   |
| 逆水 | nì shuǐ | against the current / upstream | |
| 上行流 | | upstream | |
| 追溯 | zhuī sù | lit. to go upstream / to trace sth back to / to date from | |
| 上水 | Shàng shuǐ | upper reaches (of a river) / to go upstream / to add some water / to water (a crop etc) | |
| 溯源 | sù yuán | to investigate the origin of sth / to trace a river upstream back to its source | |
| 学如逆水行舟，不进则退 | xué rú nì shuǐ xíng zhōu , bù jìn zé tuì | study is like rowing upstream &ndash / if you don't keep pushing forward, you fall behind | |
| 上游活动 | shàng yóu huó dòng | upstream activities | |
| 逆流洄游 | | upstream migration | |
| 逆水行舟，不进则退 | nì shuǐ xíng zhōu , bù jìn zé tuì | like rowing a boat upstream, if you stop moving forward you fall back (idiom) | |
