Goodbye in Chinese - is 再见 really the best way to say bye?

Mandarin 普通话
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大家好！Today I want to talk about saying goodbye in Chinese

When starting off with studying Mandarin, the first version of goodbye that most people learn is 再见 (zàijiàn). However, in Taipei, I feel that this is hardly ever used. Instead, people most often seem to go with 拜拜 (bài bài).

Have you noticed a similar pattern in other Mandarin speaking cities? Or have you heard any interesting ways of saying goodbye in Chinese? :eyes: Curious to hear about your experiences!

and on that note,
再见 :wink:

Goodbye in Chinese (2)

P.S. If anyone is interested in some extra reading, here’s 17 ways to say goodbye in Chinese!

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I have used 再见 in Taipei multiple times but it sounds more formal than 拜拜 indeed, and I use it with my landlord for example.

拜拜 is definitely my go-to goodbye!

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Totally agree. In China 拜拜 just seems to be the standard way of saying goodbye

Funnily enough, the only Chinese people that use 再见 with me are Chinese teachers :laughing:

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Really? I thought 再见 is the only way to say goodbye and I say it with every Chinese friend.
Seems it’s similar to Vietnamese, we normally say bye instead of tạm biệt

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I never hear 再见 either to be honest.

下次见 (see you next time) is far more common along with 拜拜 as @Lyu-Mandarin said.

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Let’s not forget about 明天见 (see you tomorrow)!

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If I will see the person again, I usually would indicate that. It makes the “good bye” less final and gives something to look forward to (we meet again soon).

See you in a little while again 一会儿见
See you tomorrow again 明天见
See you next week again 下周见
See you next month again 下个月见
See you next year again 明年见

Only if there is no plan or foreseeable situation where we will meet again I would use 再见。

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