Happy Birthday in Chinese || 3 Useful Phrases! 🎈

Mandarin 普通话
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Hi guys - I saw this super fun video on the LTL Mandarin Instagram and wanted to share so you’ll all be ready to wish someone a Happy Birthday in Mandarin Chinese!

The three birthday wishes mentioned are:
:gift: 生日快乐 - (Shēngrì kuàilè) Happy Birthday!
:gift: 心想事成 - (Xīn xiǎng shì chéng) May all your wishes come true
:gift: 天天开心 - (Tiāntiān kāixīn) Wishing you happiness every day

BONUS Here’s a blog article about wishing someone a Happy Birthday in Chinese with even more phrases, how to sing Happy Birthday in Chinese and how to ask someone when their birthday is :point_down:

Do you guys know any other ways to wish someone Happy Birthday in Chinese or have you come across any interesting birthday customs in Chinese culture? :eyes:

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A big difference between China and Europe I found is that if someone invites their friends for a birthday dinner in China, usually the person whos birthday it is pays and the guests are free.

For me in Europe it would be more the other way round, the guests pay and the one who has their birthday does not have to pay.

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Oh, hi Andreas. I know that British people do it like that, but we in Germany? The “birthday child” invites to a restaurant and of course pays everything. When you have your birthday everybody you meet on this day or even all days the week after expects you to pay a round at least, or bring a birthday cake or butter pretzels and/ or a bottle of champagne…
To avoid an expensive party you can invite everybody to your house or garden or some barbecue area and prepare some meal and ask everybody to bring something else to eat or drink.

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Also noticed this, such an odd concept to me. On your birthday you shouldn’t be spending a penny!

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Interesting! I always assumed it was a western/eastern thing, I didn’t realise there was so much variation just in Europe

I wonder if birthday parties end up being smaller in Germany because you’re expected to cover everybody else :eyes: :rofl:

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I don’t think there is a definite rule in France but if it’s your birthday people would usually buy you drinks, whereas you would pay for dinner!

And if there is gift we have to open in front of the person offering. I know that in Asia it is the other way around :gift:

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In Vietnam, the birthday person usually invites others for dinner or to a bar for drinks. The invitees will bring gifts and cake, and we open gifts in front of everyone.

In some cases, if invitees don’t have time to prepare gifts, they can offer to pay for the party. So, really, there is no rule; it depends on the situation. :grin:

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Learned a new Chinese word recently：

寿星 shòu xīng

This has two meaning: the god of longevity AND a person celebrating their birthday. BUT be careful, because it’s usually used to describe an elderly person :laughing:

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Here in Perú, it would depend on the context.
For example, if it’s your birthday, and you invite friends to your home, it would mean you are making or buying some food to celebrate together. But if you are invited out, it would mean your friend(s) are paying for you so that you have a good time.
It changes when you are younger, your parents buy a cake and some gifts for you.

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It makes a lot of sense! I like that no matter the country, there is always a cake involved :birthday:

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For anyone looking to perfect their pronunciation, new Happy Birthday in Chinese video just dropped on YouTube :wink:

:point_right: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNIxYFrkbpI