Even to this day, the word China in Arabic (pronounced "seen") means far away.

So if your friend lives across town and you are inconvenienced, in Arabic you would say "why do you live in China?".

I love that in Arabic, China is a metaphor for "far away," and in Chinese, China is basically "the central place." I am hoping to find out that the Pashto or Hindu for China means "medium far away."

The word "china" might mean 'far' but only in a metaphorical way As is the case in many other languages. But the word for "far" or "far away" in arabic is definitely not "china / الصين"

Taking "the slow boat to China" is an idiom in English for a long duration or long journey.

In Hindi, we pronounce it as 'Cheen', with the 'ch' sound.

Surprising, China's pronunciation in Tamil is also similar, 'Seena '!