Must-know Chinese Greetings

Let’s learn a few common and must-know Chinese greetings.

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If you are going to interact with Chinese people, these greetings are going to save the situation, especially in the mainland China.

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Chinese Greeting – 1

How to say “Hello” in Chinese? Hello is called “Ni Hao” in Chinese.

Indeed, the most common greeting is Ni Hao, meaning “Hello”:

• 你好 (nǐ hǎo): Hello

你好 literally means

1. You good?
2. Are you good today?
3. Are you okay?

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Chinese Greeting – 2

• 您好 (nín hǎo) – Hello

Ninhao (您好) is similar to (你好). However, Nin (您) is the honorific form of Ni (你). That is to say, you should use Ninhao to greet elders, teachers, etc.

How to respond to Nihao or Ninhao?

When someone greets you with Nihao or Ninhao, the common response is something like:

• 我很好，你呢?
• Wǒ hěn hǎo, nǐ ne?
• I am fine. How about you?

You can also change 你 to 您:

• 我很好，您呢?
• Wǒ hěn hǎo, nín ne?
• I am fine. How about you?

Chinese Greeting – 3

• 嗨 (hāi): Hi

Hi (嗨) is same as “Hi” in English. It’s used during informal communication, such as among the friends. It’s also common during online chatting.

Btw, it’s important to know how to say greet (verb) and greetings (noun) in Chinese:

• 问候语 (wèn hòu yǔ): greetings
• 问候 (wèn hòu): send one’s regards to; greet
• 招呼 (zhāo hu): call; salutation; greeting