A few days ago, we introduced a bunch of different ways to say “Hello” in Chinese. Naturally, today we’re going to look at a few different words that can be used to say “Goodbye.”

A simple video on how to say goodbye in Chinese.

Here are ten Chinese goodbyes, with English, Chinese characters, and pinyin transliteration:

Here are some tips for using these:

• The most common way to say goodbye in Chinese is definitely 再见.
• 拜拜 is a casual goodbye that is usually used with friends/on the phone. It’s definitely a Chinese version of the English “Bye bye.”
• If you plan on seeing someone again soon, you can use both 回头见 and 一会儿见.
• I often use 下次见 with my students. Since we just see each other at class time, saying “See you next time” is a good way to say goodbye.
• You’ll often hear 慢走 when leaving a restaurant. It makes sense, seeing as how you’ll already be walking slow thanks to all the food you ate and beer you drank.
• Both 一路平安 and 一路顺风 are ways to say goodbye to someone when they’re going away on a vacation or something. I expect to hear this a lot this fall when I head out of Beijing to travel SE Asia for a few months.

In case you missed it, this is a video I made about Chinese Greetings.

Well there you go… you’re now equipped with over 25 ways to say “Hello” and “Goodbye” in Chinese. You should be able to greet any person in any situation once you’ve got all those down. Don’t forget you can always learn a new Chinese word every day with us!

When learning a language, chances are the first word you will learn is the equivalent of “Hello.” After all, you can’t really start talking to someone before greeting them! Just like in English, where we have a ton of ways to greet someone (Hello, Hi, Hey, What’s up?, How are you?, etc.), there are plenty of options in Chinese as well.

The most common way to say "Hello" in Chinese.

Here are 15 different ways to greet someone in Mandarin Chinese, in an easy-to-follow table with English, Chinese characters, and pinyin transliteration:

A nice and easy YouTube video about saying “Hello” in Chinese.

Ok… do you have those 15 expressions down? Test yourself by choosing the proper greeting for the following situations:

• You greet someone after dinner, at around 7 PM.
• You greet your Chinese teacher before class.
• You see an old friend for the first time in a long time.
• You greet an acquaintance who is your age.
• You greet a potential business partner for the first time.
• You answer your phone.
• You greet an elder.
• You greet someone after breakfast, at around 9 AM.
• You greet a good friend.
• You greet a large group of people.
• You greet someone after lunch, at around 1 PM.
• You greet two of your classmates who you are studying with.

Now that you know 15 common greetings, do your best to try and use them in the appropriate situations. Check back here in the near future for a post about how to say goodbye in Chinese.

Explore the old city of Datong in China’s Shanxi province in this short video. An overnight train from Beijing will get you there in just over 5 hours. Check out the old neighborhood and the newly rebuilt City Wall, in addition to some other places of interest such as the Drum Tower, Grand Mosque, and Nine Dragon Wall. Feast on some spicy chicken and fish, and then get rowdy in a pool hall/KTV bar at night.

北京站 – běi jīng zhàn
Beijing Railway Station

人太多了 – rén tài duō le
too many people

我们买了硬卧票 – wǒ men mǎi le yìng wò piào
We bought hard sleeper tickets.

大同 – dà tóng
Datong

山西省 – shān xī shěng
Shanxi province

城墙 – chéng qiáng
City Wall

青年旅舍 – qīng nián lǚ shě
youth hostel

快了宝贝 – kuài le bǎo bèi
Happy Baby

滑旱冰 – huá hàn bīng
rollerblading

鼓楼 – gǔ lóu
Drum Tower

清真大寺 – qīng zhēn dà sì
Grand Mosque

九龙壁 – jiǔ lóng bì
Nine Dragon Screen

清炒西兰花 – qīng chǎo xī lán huā
stir-fried broccoli

鱼香茄子 – yú xiāng qié zi
fish-scented eggplant

辣子鸡 – là zǐ jī
spicy chicken

烤鱼 – kǎo yú
grilled fish

吃饭以后，我么去打台球 – chī fàn yǐ hòu, wǒ me qù dǎ tái qiú
After dinner, we went to play pool.