向
xiàng
Expressing "towards" with "xiang"
向 aims an action at a direction or, more often, at a person.
向 + Direction / Person + Verb
How it works
你必须向他道歉！ — you must apologise to him. With people, 向 suits formal actions: apologising, thanking, learning from, reporting to.
For directions it overlaps with 往 (向前走 / 往前走). 往 is more common in everyday route-giving.
向 sounds more formal than 跟 or 对 when a person is involved.
Examples
nǐ bì xū xiàng tā dào qiàn!
你必须向他道歉！
You have to apologise to him!
wǒ yào xiàng nǐ xué xí
我要向你学习。
I should learn from you.
xiàng qián zǒu wǔ fēn zhōng jiù dào le
向前走五分钟就到了。
Walk on for five minutes and you're there.