南箕北斗

nán jī běi dǒu

lit. the Winnowing Basket in the southern sky, and the Big Dipper in the north (idiom)

fig. sth which, despite its name, is of no practical use

nán

south

winnow basket

běi

north

dǒu

abbr. for the Big Dipper constellation 北斗星[Bei3 dou3 xing1]