A:Ni hao. (ä½ å¥½)
B: Ni hao ma? (ä½ å¥½å—?)
A: Wo hen hao. (我很好)
The above dialogue, or something like it, is usually the fist snippets of Chinese that anyone studying the language will learn. Ni Hao, the rosy cheeked beginner student will be told, is the term Chinese use to greet each other. Hmm…
Well, if you say Ni hao, when you meet a Chinese person, he or she will most likely reply with a Ni hao. But. If a Chinese person greets you, or if two Chinese persons meet and greet Ni hao will probably not be their term of choice.
During my first year in Beijing, I always answered the questions my Chinese friends asked me when we met up in as much detail as I could manage with my limited Mandarin. “Yes, I have eaten thank you, just now in the canteen, but if you want to go for a coffee somewhere that would be fine†or, “No, I haven’t finished class yet, we’re just having a break and I’m going to get some chocolate from the storeâ€
After a while I realized that the amused looks I got in return had to do with the fact that the people who asked: “Have you eaten?†or “Have you finished class?†were not dying to know the answers to these questions, they were simply saying “Hiâ€.
In my first Shanghai apartment, I shared a kitchen with the other residents of my floor. This led to huge amounts of takeaway dinners and to the fact that basically every time I left or came back home there was a neighbor outside my door, cooking. Our typical greetings went something like: “You’re cooking?†“Yeahâ€, “You’re going out?/ You’ve come back?†“Yeahâ€, or just a simple nod.
This might seem a little tricky, as the greeting varies with the occasion. The situation for the Chinese who wants to learn English seems unfairly easy, since in English there is only one greeting. On the other hand, this little word’s meaning can be stretched to indicate almost anything. If shouted out as He-lloo! by a random person on the street it can be translated as: “Foreigner! Look at me!†or “Buy my overpriced traditional Chinese plastic merchandiseâ€, or, if followed by the person sticking a bowl out at you “Give me moneyâ€.
When, as quite often happens to me, the “Hello†is uttered by the bravest in a gang of middle aged Chinese men I would think the best translation would be “Eh, look, I dared to approach the laowaiâ€. If shouted out at you from behind it usually means “Move!â€,
Combined with the appropriate body language, “Hello†can actually mean anything. The most impressive case I’ve come across so far was a lady who used “Hello†to express “Could I please borrow your bathroom?†I understood her in the end, although, had she used Chinese I would probably have been quicker on the uptake.
This post sounds so familiar to me because I am Chinese too. Even if you know that someone has already eaten, the question remains the same: Have you eaten already? And also when it is late at night and you had dinner a couple of hours ago, a common question is still the same: Have you eaten already?
I was born in the Netherlands, but both my parents are Chinese, so I was brought up with the Chinese and the Dutch culture. These questions still seem very funny to me sometimes. But this is culture bound. To us it might sound strange, but it is the most common thing in China. So, you have to be really careful with how you react to it. You can’t make fun of it. It is like the “How are you doing?” in Western cultures. What is so funny about that? It isn’t but “Have you eaten?” isn’t either!
we don’t greet like tat actually…
In some places, people don’t greet this way, but it’s ok to do it in China..