Chinese Phrases for the Holiday Season 39 节日用语
What to say in Chinese from 11 November to mid-January: Singles' Day and the 11.11 shopping festival, the Winter Solstice (22 December 2026), Christmas, New Year's Day and the Laba Festival (15 January 2027). Each phrase has pinyin, a short usage note and native teacher audio. For the Chinese New Year itself, see the Chinese New Year page.
Singles' Day & 11.11 Shopping 12 phrases Winter Solstice & Winter Words 11 phrases Christmas 8 phrases New Year's Day & the Laba Festival 8 phrases Singles' Day & 11.11 Shopping 12 11 November started as a joke day for single people and became the world's biggest online shopping festival. Here are the words for both sides of the day.
1 光棍节 Guānggùnjié Singles' Day 11 November: the four 1s look like four bare sticks, slang for single people.
2 光棍节快乐 Guānggùnjié kuàilè Happy Singles' Day A joke greeting for single friends. Keep it for people who will laugh.
3 双十一 Shuāng Shíyī Double Eleven (11.11 shopping festival) The everyday name for the 11.11 shopping festival.
4 网购 wǎnggòu Online shopping Noun and verb: 我喜欢网购, 这是网购的.
Chinese discounts state what you pay: 打八折 = pay 80% (20% off).
6 单身 dānshēn Single (not in a relationship) The neutral word. 我还是单身 = I am still single.
7 脱单 tuōdān To find a partner Literally "escape singleness". 今年脱单了吗？ is a common teasing question.
8 剁手 duòshǒu To overspend online (slang) Literally "chop off my hands": what shoppers joke they should do after 11.11.
9 购物车 gòuwùchē Shopping cart Used for online carts too: 购物车里还有很多东西 (my cart is still full).
10 快递 kuàidì Parcel; courier delivery After 11.11 everyone waits for 快递. 我的快递到了 = my parcel has arrived.
11 包邮 bāoyóu Free shipping A word you see on almost every Chinese shopping page.
12 太贵了 tài guì le Too expensive For when the deal is not good enough.
Winter Solstice & Winter Words 11 冬至 falls on 22 December in 2026. Families gather and eat dumplings in the north or sweet rice balls in the south. Plus the words for cold days and snow.
1 冬至 Dōngzhì Winter Solstice Around 21–22 December. An old saying: 冬至大如年, "the Winter Solstice is as big as New Year".
2 冬至快乐 Dōngzhì kuàilè Happy Winter Solstice Very common in Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and southern China.
3 冬至吃饺子了吗？ Dōngzhì chī jiǎozi le ma? Did you eat dumplings for the Winter Solstice? The northern Chinese way to greet people on the day.
The Winter Solstice food in northern China.
5 汤圆 tāngyuán Sweet rice balls (tang yuan) The Winter Solstice food in the south, Singapore and Malaysia: round = togetherness.
6 团圆 tuányuán Family reunion The Winter Solstice is a family day, like a small New Year.
春天, 夏天, 秋天, 冬天: the four seasons.
9 堆雪人 duī xuěrén Build a snowman 堆 = to pile up. 我们去堆雪人吧！ = Let us go and build a snowman!
10 今天很冷 jīntiān hěn lěng It's cold today The small talk of every winter morning.
11 冷死了 lěng sǐ le I'm freezing! Literally "cold to death": a casual exaggeration, not a real complaint.
Christmas 8 Christmas is not a public holiday in mainland China (it is in Hong Kong and Macau), but shops, malls and young people celebrate it, often with a Chinese twist: the Christmas Eve apple.
1 圣诞节 Shèngdànjié Christmas Not a public holiday in mainland China, but malls and young people celebrate it.
2 圣诞快乐 Shèngdàn kuàilè Merry Christmas The greeting for 24–25 December.
3 平安夜 Píng'ānyè Christmas Eve Friends give each other apples on this night.
4 平安果 píng'ānguǒ Christmas Eve apple 苹果 (apple) sounds like 平安 (safe and peaceful), so a wrapped apple is the gift of the night.
5 圣诞老人 Shèngdàn lǎorén Santa Claus Literally "the old man of Christmas".
6 圣诞树 shèngdànshù Christmas tree Huge trees go up in Chinese malls every December.
7 圣诞礼物 shèngdàn lǐwù Christmas present 你收到什么圣诞礼物了？ = What did you get for Christmas?
8 祝你圣诞快乐，新年快乐！ Zhù nǐ Shèngdàn kuàilè, xīnnián kuàilè! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! The usual line for a December card or message.
New Year's Day & the Laba Festival 8 1 January is a short public holiday. The Laba Festival a few weeks later is the traditional start of the run-up to Chinese New Year.
1 元旦快乐 Yuándàn kuàilè Happy New Year's Day For 1 January. 新年快乐 also works.
2 新年快乐 xīnnián kuàilè Happy New Year Works for both 1 January and Chinese New Year.
3 跨年 kuànián See in the New Year (New Year's Eve) Literally "step across the year". 你去哪儿跨年？ = Where are you spending New Year's Eve?
4 新年倒计时 xīnnián dàojìshí New Year countdown 倒计时 = counting down: 十、九、八…
5 节日快乐 jiérì kuàile Happy holidays One greeting for any holiday.
6 腊八节 Làbājié Laba Festival The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month (15 January 2027).
7 腊八粥 Làbāzhōu Laba porridge A sweet porridge of grains, beans, nuts and dried fruit eaten on the Laba Festival.
8 过了腊八就是年 guòle Làbā jiù shì nián After Laba, New Year is here An old saying: once Laba has passed, the Chinese New Year season has begun.