The most common Chinese New Year greetings to say for good luck, good health and everything else

  • Post last modified:22 February 2022
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During Chinese New Year, a common practice is to greet each other with auspicious sayings. Most people know “新年快乐 (xīn nián kuài lè) ” and “恭喜发财 (gōng xǐ fā cái)”. The former basically means “Happy New Year”, while the former means “May you prosper and be wealthy.” But there are actually lots of other auspicious sayings for specific individuals.

For your parents, you should wish them good health, ” 身体健康 (shēn tǐ jiàn kāng)”.

For  younger children, we tend to say “学业进步 (xué yè jìn bù)” to wish them academic success. 

Here’s a handy list of common Chinese New Year greetings you can learn to upgrade your Chinese language skills this New Year. Trust me, you will get more good luck from learning and saying it!! Either case, you will be impressive!

Chinese New Year greetings

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Chinese New Year Greetings specific to the Year of the Zodiac Animal

This year (2022) is the year of the Tiger is “虎年”, so you can say the following to add cool Zodiac charm to your Chinese New Year greetings. 

Add “祝你(zhù nǐ)/祝您(zhù nín)”at the front of your greeting which means “Wishing you”. Use “你” for peers, and “您” for elders.

For instance, “祝你/您虎年行大运” means “May you have good fortune in the year of the Tiger.”

虎年行大运 (hǔ nián xíng dà yùn) – “Good fortune in the year of the Tiger.”

虎虎生威 (hǔ hǔ shēng wēi) – “Grow in strength like the tiger”

虎年大吉 (hǔ nián dà jí) – “Good luck in the Year of the Tiger”

For any other years, you can easily substitute the tiger for that zodiac animal.  “龙年吉祥”, “猪年行大运”

Chinese New Year Greetings for all

新年快乐 (xīn nián kuài lè) – “Happy New Year”

万事如意 (wàn shì rú yì) – “All things as you wish”

大吉大利 (dà jí dà lì) – “Good luck and good fortune”

年年有余 (nián nián yǒu yú) – “Abundance every year”

笑口常开 (xiào kǒu cháng kāi) -“Smile always”

吉祥如意 (jí xiáng rú yì) – “Good luck, may things go as you wish”

事事顺心 (shì shì shùn xīn) -“Everything to go as your heart desires”

心想事成 (xīn xiǎng shì chéng) – “Wish come true”

一帆风顺 (yī fān fēng shùn) – “All things to be smooth sailing”

Chinese New Year greetings for Wealth and Success

恭喜发财 (gōng xǐ fā cái) -“Prosper and be wealthy”

生意兴隆 (shēng yì xīng lóng) -“May your business be prosperous”

财源滚滚 (cái yuán gǔn gǔn) – “Money roll in”

升官发财 (shēng guān fā cái) – “Be promoted and get rich”

花开富贵 (huā kāi fù guì) – “Flower bloom and good fortune”

马到成功 (mǎ dào chéng gōng) – “Achieve success”

事业有成 (shì yè yǒu chéng) – “Success in your career”

步步高升 (bù bù gāo shēng) -“Rise to the next level”

Chinese New Year Greetings for elders

身体健康 (shēn tǐ jiàn kāng) – “Good health”

青春永驻 (qīng chūn yǒng zhù) – “Look youthful always”

Chinese New Year Greetings for children

快高长大 (kuài gāo zhǎng dà) – “Grow up quick and tall”

学业进步 (xué yè jìn bù) – “Academic success”

From all of us at Mandarin Homeschool, here’s wishing you a year of good fortune, good health, and all the things you desire.

🧧 祝你虎年大吉大利,身体健康,事事顺心。

Don’t forget to download these FREE fun and furry Year of the Tiger greeting cards and write your good luck messages within them!

Read these posts for Chinese New Year Books, Crafts, Activities

Want to know what our favourite Chinese New Year books in English are?

Want to teach your children about the Chinese Zodiac

Don’t forget to grab a copy of these beautifully illustrated bilingual picture books about the Chinese Zodiac and Chinese culture

Cool Chinese New Year craft activities from Chalk Academy

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