1 bumpy (of a road)

2 rough (of life)

3 to be down on one's luck

4 to be full of frustrations and dashed hopes

1 pit

2 threshold

3 one of the Eight Trigrams 八卦[bā guà], symbolizing water

4 ☵

1 critical juncture

2 key moment

1 bottom of one's heart

1 Chikan district of Zhanjiang city 湛江市[Zhàn jiāng shì], Guangdong

1 potholed and bumpy road (idiom); fig. full of disappointment and dashed hopes