17 Common and Creative Ways to Say 'Goodbye' in Mandarin Chinese

In my previous post, I listed all of the ways you can say ‘Hello’ in Mandarin Chinese.

So, it only makes sense that today we cover different ways to say ‘Goodbye’!

We’ll start with the most common way to say Goodbye in Chinese, which is ‘再见’ (zài jiàn).

再见 zài jiàn – Goodbye / See you again

再见 (Zài jiàn) is the standard and most commonly used expression for goodbye in Mandarin Chinese. It can also be used when you wish to say ‘See you again’ in Mandarin, even if you’re not planning to see that same person again.

Furthermore, this phrase can be used with everybody regardless of social hierarchy, and in a variety of different social situations.

再 (zai) – ‘again’
见 (jiàn) – ‘to see’

拜拜 bái bái – Bye bye

If you’re an English speaker, this is going to be the easiest one to remember for obvious reasons. Chinese has quite a few loan words from English these days, especially when it comes to saying ‘hello’.

嘿 (Hēi) – ‘Hey’
嗨 (Hāi) – ‘Hi’
哈喽 (Hā lóu) – ‘Hello’

Even though it’s casual and informal, 拜拜 (bái bái) is widely used by the Chinese people. Another similar example of this would be the use of ‘八八’ (Bābā), meaning ’88’ (also ‘Goodbye’) which is creative slang used frequently on the internet and in text messages.

Many internet users in China love to talk in numbers!

明天见 míng tin jiàn (天) – See you tomorrow

Used with friends and colleagues that you’ll see the next day. It’s not like using 再见 (zài jiàn) – this can be used when you might not see the person again. The characters when broken down are:

明天 (Míngtiān) – ‘Tomorrow’
见 (jiàn) – ‘To see’

周一见 zhōu yī jiàn – ‘See you on Monday’

This phrase is used when you are planning to meet someone again on a specific date. The example we’re using here is 周一见 (zhōu yī jiàn), meaning ‘See you on Monday’. The number 1, or 一 (Yī) refers to Monday.

Simply replace the number in the sentence to change the day. For example:

周二见 (Zhōu’èr jiàn) – See you Tuesday
周三见 (Zhōusān jiàn) – See you Wednesday
周四见 (Zhōu sì jiàn) – See you Thursday
etc.

再会 Zài huì – ‘Meet you again‘

再会 (Zài huì) is similar to the phrase 再见 (zài jiàn) but it’s not as common as the latter. The word 会 (huì) is a variation of ‘to meet’, so besides ‘Meet you again’ this phrase is kind of like a ‘Catch you later.’

我不得不说再见了 wǒ bù dé bù shuō zài jiàn le – ‘I have to go’

This is one of the longest expressions for goodbye and is rarely used. It doesn’t sound that polite or formal so it’s mostly used when you are around close friends.

The literal translation of this phrase is ‘I’ve got no choice but to say goodbye.’ Let’s break it down:

我 (wǒ) – ‘I/me’
不得不 (bùdébù) – ‘No choice but to do something’
说 (shuō) – ‘To say’
再见 (zàijiàn) – ‘Goodbye’
了 (le) – *completed action marker

我先告辞了 Wǒ xiān gàocíle – ‘I must leave first’

This is a very polite and formal way of leaving a social setting, unlike the previous entry on my list. It’s almost as if you’re saying ‘Pardon me, I must excuse myself.’ in English.

先 (Xiān) – ‘First’
告 (Gào) – To ‘tell’
辞 (Cí) – To ‘take leave’

失陪了 shī péi le – ‘Sorry for leaving’

失陪了(Shī péi le) is another very polite and formal way of excusing yourself; probably the most ‘fancy’ way of doing so.

失 (shī) – ‘to fail’ and/or ‘to lose’
陪 (péi) – ‘to accompany’

Kind of like saying “I’m losing your company.”

再联系 zài lián xi – ‘Let’s stay in touch / Let’s catch up later’

This is another useful phrase that you can use instead of the typical “goodbye”. It is best used when a conversation is suddenly broken up but you want to return to the topic later.

再 (zài) – ‘again’
联系 (lián xi) ‘in touch with’, ‘contact’, and ‘relation’.

有空再聊 yǒu kòng zài liáo – ‘When you are free, let’s chat again’

Using this phrase will help you sound like a local, but you’ve got to make sure you’re close enough to the person you’re saying it to.

Play it safe with this one and use it with close friends.

It’s not that it’s particularly rude if you say it to someone you’re not close to, it just sounds a bit… weird.

有空 (yǒu kòng) – to ‘have free time’
聊 (liáo) – ‘to chat’

后会有期 hòu huì yǒu qī – ‘Farewell’

This one is rather dramatic and I’ve only really heard it in movies. The closest thing in English is ‘I hope to meet you again someday’.

So, you can use this when you’re not sure you’ll see the other person again, but kind of hope that you will.

保重 bǎo zhòng – ‘Take care’

保重 (Bǎo zhòng) is a perfect expression to use when someone you know is leaving for a long journey. It’s kind of like saying, ‘Take good care of yourself’. The less formal (and much more frequently used) way of saying ‘Take care’ is…

慢走 mànzôu – ‘Take it easy’

The direct translation is literally ‘move slowly’.

挂了啊! guà le ah! – ‘I’m going to hang up!’

Be careful with this one. There are only two situations I’d use it in:

When the other person on the phone is being a total arse hat.
When you’re in love and having one of those, ‘You hang up.’ ‘No, you hang up!’ moments.

The thing to note here is that the 啊 (ah) is only a particle word, which aims to add a little emotion to what you are saying.

挂 (guà) ‘to hang up’, ‘to hitch’ or ‘to suspend’.

很高兴见到你 hên gāoxìng jiàn dào nî – ‘Good seeing you’

This one is frequently taught as a way of telling someone ‘Nice to meet you’, but it can also be used as a way of saying goodbye – ‘Good seeing you’.

New Words

很 (hên) – ‘very’
高兴 (gāoxìng) – ‘happy’, ‘cheerful’, ‘to be willing’
到 (dào) – ‘to reach’ or ‘to present’

我得走 Wó déi zôu – ‘I have to go’ or ‘I gotta run’

This expression is mostly used when you are in a hurry and cannot stay with someone for a long time.

Summary

In general, the most common ways you’re going to hear ‘goodbye’ being said in Chinese are:

再见 (zàijiàn) – ‘See you again.’
慢走 (mànzǒu) – ‘Take it easy!’

Other examples on this list are less frequently used and are only said in certain contexts. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use them though! You might not always get it right, but language learning is all about embarrassing yourself over and over again!

If you’re looking for more Mandarin learning tools, check out the links below.

一路顺风 (yī lù shùn fēng) – “May the wind be with you!”

17 Common and Creative Ways to Say ‘Goodbye’ in Mandarin Chinese