向=toward, toward your dirction. 到= to, toward your purpose. for example: I'm going toward the east. 我正向东走。 i'm going to the shop. 我要到那个商店。 by the way, sometimes 到 means "get" or "arrive". I've got home. 我到家了。 She've arrived at the station. 她到车站了。

what is the difference between towards and to?

When talking about direction, “向” emphasizes the start or process, while “到” emphasizes the result of action: 向前进，向后转，“问君能有几多愁，恰似一江春水向东流” 到前面去，到后边去，到学校去，到生活中去 When talking about the direction itself, only “向” is applicable: 方向，指向，江河流向，性取向 When talking about arrival or till, only “到” is applicable: 到达，到站，到了，到学校了，皇上驾到 直到，爱你到永远，打破沙锅问到底，到明天，到那时，到时候 When talking about enough，only “到” is applicable: 功夫不到，火候不到 When talking about successfulness, only “到” is applicable: 找不到目标，找不到妈妈，买不到火车票，得到，“只有想不到，没有办不到” When talking about completness, only “到” is applicable: 周到，面面俱到，照顾不到 At last, both "向" and "到" can be the lastname of a person.

"向" emphasize the direction and the process of going towards someplace, for example : 他正向商店走去 --he is walking towards the store; 汽车准备向右转 -- The bus was to turn right. "到" emphasize a certain time point not a period, like "你到哪里了"--where are u now?, means where you have arrived right now, a specific place. and "你到家了吗？" -- have you arrived home yet?

Even though they can be used to mean virtually the same thing, 向 is used to express _direction_， whereas 到 is used to express _destiniation_。向is more like "towards" and 到 as a verb means "arrive" so you get the idea. Ex: 到公园去。Go to the park. 向公园走。Walk towards the park.