Chinese New Year Greetings and Sayings

When the Chinese New Year is coming, everyone is prepared to visit your relatives or friends to send New Year wishes. Or you go to a local restaurant and want to show off little. Besides “xīnnián kuàilè! (Happy New Year)”, there are many other greetings and sayings to express your great wish to others for the new year. In Chinese, most of the phrases are composed of four Chinese characters. Following are basic and most popular greetings in English and Chinese with meanings. 

Greeting an older person or someone you respect is a little different in Chinese from greeting a young person younger than you. 

祝您……Zhu nín... - Wish you (older or respected)...

祝你……Zhu nǐ ... - Wish you (younger or informal)...

Greetings for 2024 Year of the Dragon

龙年行大运  lóng nián xíng dà yùn - Wish you good luck in the year of Dragon!

龙年发大财  lóng nián fā dà cái - A great fortune in the year of the Dragon!

龙年财源滚滚来  lóng nián cái yuán gǔn gǔn lái - With you have money in great abundance in the year of the Dragon!

新年好   xīnnián hǎo - Happy New Year

过年好   guònián hǎo -Happy New Year

新年快乐   xīnnián kuàilè - Happy New Year

新春快乐   xīnchūn kuàilè - Happy 'New Spring'

春节快乐   chūnjié kuàilè - Happy Spring Festival

恭贺新禧   gōng hè xīn xǐ - Best wishes for the year to come!

吉祥如意   jíxiáng rúyì - Good luck and happiness as you wish.

心想事成   xīnxiǎng shì chéng - May all your wishes come true.

万事如意   wànshì rúyì - May all your wishes be fulfilled.

吉星高照   jíxīng gāozhào - Fortune will smile on you.

大吉大利  dàjí dàlì - Lots of luck and profits

一帆风顺   yīfān fēngshùn - Hope everything goes well.

身体健康   shēntǐ jiànkāng - Enjoy good health.

健康长寿   jiànkāng chángshòu - Wish a good health and longevity. 

多福多寿   duōfú duōshòu - Live long and proper.

龙马精神   lóng mǎ jīngshén – Wish you as energetic as dragon and horse!

笑口常开   xiàokǒu chángkāi - Wish someone will be always laughing or happy.

岁岁平安   suìsuì píng ān - May you start safe and sound all year round. 

阖家欢乐   héjiā huānlè - Felicity of the whole family

阖家幸福   héjiā xìngfú - Happiness for the whole family

全家幸福   quánjiā xìngfú - Happiness for the whole family

幸福美满   xìngfú měimǎn - Wish a happy and sweet life.

恭喜发财   gōngxǐ fācái - Wishing you make a lot of money and prosperous.

财源广进   cáiyuán guǎngjìn-  May a river of gold flow into your pocket.

财源滚滚   cáiyuán gǔngǔn – Money luck to roll in.

财运亨通   cáiyùn hēngtōng - May many fortunes find their way to you!

年年有余   niánnián yǒuyú - Surplus year-after-year

生意兴隆   shēngyì xīnglóng - Prosperous business

事业发达   shìyè fādá – Wish you a good career.

事业兴旺   shìyè xīngwàng - Wish your business prosperous.

工作顺利   gōngzuò shùnlì - May your work go smoothly.

事业有成   shìyè yǒuchéng – Success for your career

马到成功   mǎ dào chénggōng- Win success immediately.

平步青云   píngbù qīngyún - Have a meteoric rise or a promotion in career.

步步高升   bùbù gāoshēng - Promotions at every step

升官发财   shēngguān fācái- Win promotion and get rich.

飞黄腾达   fēihuáng téngdá - Have a meteoric rise in career!

学业有成   xuéyè yǒuchéng- successful in study or have achievements in learning

学习进步   xuéxí jìnbù - make progress in study

金榜题名   jīnbǎng tímíng - Success in the important examination 

恭喜发财，红包拿来   Gōngxǐ fācái, hóngbāo ná lái - Wish you a fortune！Give me a red packet！(You can only say this to your close friends.)