to choose flight as the best course of action among available strategies; the best thing to do is leave

escaping or avoiding a difficult situation is the best strategy; one of the thirty-six stratagems, it suggests that when all else fails, retreat is the best option

Used when a situation has become hopeless or unmanageable to suggest that leaving or running away is the best course of action; also written as [[三十六计，走为上计|三十六計，走為上計|san1 shi2 liu4 ji4 zou3 wei2 shang4 ji4]].

The best thing to do when a situation is hopeless is to leave; of the thirty-six stratagems, running away is the best one.