次
cì
One stroke each time it happens: 次
The picture Making a tally mark on paper each time something happens. The number of marks is the count. 次 counts the occasions on which something happened; 遍 counts whether it went round once from beginning to end.
Where the picture shows up in 次
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three marks so far
我去过三次中国。
wǒ qù guo sān cì Zhōngguó
I've been to China three times.
Three entry stamps sitting side by side on one passport page.
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two marks a day
这个药一天吃两次。
zhège yào yì tiān chī liǎng cì
Take this medicine twice a day.
Drawing a mark on the calendar beside the medicine, one for morning and one for night.
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the mark still to come
我们下次再聊。
wǒmen xià cì zài liáo
Let's talk again next time.
Tapping the still-empty square on the calendar as you say goodbye.
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a row of marks
他打了好几次电话。
tā dǎ le hǎo jǐ cì diànhuà
He called several times.
A missed-call list stacking up line by line on the screen.
All of it in one picture
The three stamps in the passport are three occasions, the two marks on the calendar are two doses, the empty square is the occasion still to come, and the missed calls stacked on the screen are occasions too. 次 does not ask how long any of it lasted; it counts only how many occasions there were. So anything counted with 次 leaves one mark per occasion. Five minutes or ten days away, the stamp is still one.