As you learn Chinese, it can be helpful to know how to wish Chinese friends a Happy New Year.
While there are many ways to wish someone a happy new year in Chinese, you should remember that learning to greet someone in Chinese is also an excellent way to discover and learn new Chinese words.
In Chinese, it is common to say xīn nián kuàilè 新年 快乐 when wishing each other a happy new year.
Here xīn nián 新年 means “new year”, and kuài lè 快乐 means “happy”.
xīn nián hǎo 新年好 - "Happy New Year" or "Have a Happy New Year" when you say "Hello" to someone
Hǎo 好 “good” is added to words to greet someone and say “hello” in Chinese. For example, nǐ hǎo 你好, which means “you are good” or “hello”.
If you meet Chinese friends in the first days of the new year, you can say: xīnnián hǎo 新年好 “Happy New Year” as a way to say “hello” to them.
guònián hǎo 过年好 - "Hope you have a good year" when you say "Hello"
During the celebration of Chinese New Year, guònián hǎo 过年好 is a common way of saying “hello”.
As we have already pointed out, hǎo 好 “good” is used at the end of phrases (Time Period + hǎo 好) to greet someone in Chinese.
Guò 过 is “to pass something”, so guònián hǎo 过年好 means “A greeting to you when we are going into or have entered the new year” or “Have a good year”.
chūnjié kuàilè 春节快乐 - "Wishing you a happy Spring Festival"
You may not associate the New Year’s celebration with welcoming the spring. But if you compare the Western New Year with the Chinese New Year, the Chinese New Year begins about a month later.
In many ways, the Chinese New Year marks the end of the winter season and the beginning of the spring season. Because of this, “Chinese New Year” is called the “Spring Festival” in Chinese.
You can wish someone a “Happy Spring Festival” with the phrase chūnjié kuàilè 春节 快乐. In this expression, chūnjié 春节 means “Spring Festival” and kuàilè 快乐 means “Good”, “Have a nice”.
gōngxǐ fācái 恭喜发财 - "Wishing you happiness and prosperity"
It is usually common to greet a Chinese person with greetings and wishes when wishing others a happy new year.
Gōngxǐ fācái 恭喜 发财 is very common in China and means “I wish you prosperity and happiness in the new year.”
gōnghè xīnxǐ 恭贺新禧 - "Happy New Year"
Gōnghè 恭贺 means “congratulations”. Xīn 新 means “new” or “new year”. Xǐ 禧 (xǐ) can be translated as “happiness”.
The term gōnghè xīnxǐ 恭贺新禧 is used to say “Happy New Year” or “May you have a successful/happy year!”
suì suì píng'ān 岁岁平安 - "May you have a peaceful year"
Suì 岁 indicates year by age; it means “year after year” or “every year” when repeated twice.
Píng ān 平安 means “safe” or “peaceful”. When used in a New Year’s greeting, suì suì píng ān 岁岁平安 means “May you have a peaceful year”.
wànshì rúyì 万事如意 - “The best wishes to you and everything you do”
You will often hear wànshì rúyì 万事如意 during the Chinese New Year. It means “best wishes” or “hope everything goes well with all the things you do”.
The term wàn 万 “ten thousand” is not often used in its true meaning. Instead, it usually refers to “everything”. Shì 事 means “things”.
Rúyì 如意 means “according to one’s desires”. Thus, the expression wànshì rúyì 万事如意 is a greeting where you “wish that everything goes well in the new year”.
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