To point your cart south but leave tracks going north; to go north when actually wanting to go south
Used to indicate that actions and goals are opposite or contradictory
Negative
他俩的个性南辕北辙，根本谈不拢 | Tā liǎ de gèxìng nányuánběizhé, gēnběn tánbùlǒng
Their personalities were extremely different, and they couldn't agree about anything
[Source]
两个人在创作方法上南辕北辙 | Liǎng gèr én zài chuàngzuò fāngfǎ shàng nányuánběizhé
These two people's creative methods differ drastically
[Source]
None
北辕适楚 (běi yuán shì chǔ)
This is an HSK chengyu
《战国策》(Zhàn Gúo Cè, Strategies of the Warring States), a work which chronicled the Warring States Period (475 - 220 BC)
During the Warring States Period (战国时期 | zhàn guó shí qī | 475 - 221 BC), the king of 魏国 (Wèi Guó) wanted to launch an attack on 邯郸 (Hán Dān), the capital of the neighboring state of 赵国 (Zhào Guó). When the statesman and philosopher 季梁 (Jì Liáng) heard this, he cut short the journey he was on and went to seek an audience with the king.
When he arrived at the palace, he didn't even straighten out his wrinkled robes or remove the dust from his hair. He went straight to the king and said, "On my way here today, I ran into a man on the road. His cart was driving north, but he told me that he was going to the state of 楚国 (Chǔ Guó) [in the south]!"
Hearing this, the king frowned in confusion.
季梁 continued, "I asked him why he was driving north if he wanted to go to 楚国, and he answered, 'I have a fine steed.' I told him, 'You have a fine steed indeed, but this is not the path to 楚国.' The man answered, 'My travel expenses are great.' To that, I said,
'They may be great, but this still isn't the way to 楚国.' But still, the man insisted that his stablehand was excellent at driving.
"And with that, the man got further and further away from 楚国. Right now, Your Majesty's actions show you want to become king of all, and your bearing says you want to gain the trust of all. Using your military might to attack 邯郸 and expand your territory is no small thing. Word will spread, and the more actions like this that you take, the further away you will get from your goals — just like the man who was driving north in his attempts to go south."