The word 沙龙 (shālóng) is a phonetic loanword formed through transliteration, directly borrowing the sound of the French word salon, which historically referred to a gathering of intellectuals and artists in a reception room. The Chinese characters 沙 (shā) and 龙 (lóng) were chosen primarily for their pronunciation, which approximates "sa-long", with no inherent semantic connection to the original concept. However, the characters' connotations, 沙 suggesting something granular or expansive, and 龙 (dragon) symbolizing prestige, subtly align with the notion of an elegant, cultured assembly, allowing the term to retain its core meaning of a social or artistic gathering while being fully integrated into the Chinese lexicon.