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How do you say 'Hello' in Mandarin Chinese?

Nǐ hǎo (你好) is the everyday hello.

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  1. nǐ hǎo (你好) ✔
  2. zàijiàn (再见)
  3. xièxie (谢谢)

Why: Nǐ hǎo literally means 'you good' and works almost anywhere. Zàijiàn means goodbye and xièxie means thank you. In Taiwan it is written the same way, 你好.

Huh, didn't know that: Peace Corps notes that the usual reply to nǐ hǎo is simply nǐ hǎo again.

The dad joke
What did the teapot say to the tired traveler? Nǐ hǎo! Let me pour you a warm welcome.
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References

Answer: nǐ hǎo (你好). Nǐ hǎo literally means 'you good' and works almost anywhere. Zàijiàn means goodbye and xièxie means thank you. In Taiwan it is written the same way, 你好.

  1. MDBG Chinese Dictionary (CC-CEDICT): 你好 www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?page=worddict&wdrst=0&wdqb=%E4%BD%A0%E5%A5%BD
    hello; hi
    Checked 2026-10-12.
  2. Peace Corps China, Chinese Basic Lessons for Invitees (Mandarin) files.peacecorps.gov/multimedia/audio/languagelessons/thepeoplesrepublicofchina/CN_Mandarin_Language_Lessons.pdf
    The response is usually simply N[i h[ao again.
    Checked 2026-10-12.

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