The greetings people actually use — in Chinese script, romanized, and translated — plus which one fits which moment.
For most situations, 新年快乐 (Xīnnián kuàilè) — "Happy New Year" — is the safe, universal greeting. If you want something a little more festive and specific to the season, 恭喜发财 (Gōngxǐ fācái) — "wishing you prosperity" — is the other phrase almost everyone recognizes, and it's the line traditionally said right before red envelopes change hands. Both work in a text message, a card, or spoken out loud, and both are commonly written in Pinyin (the romanized form) when typing in Chinese characters isn't convenient.
新年快乐 (Xīnnián kuàilè) translates directly to "New Year happy" — it's the equivalent of a plain "Happy New Year" and works for anyone, in any context, at any point during the holiday period.
恭喜发财 (Gōngxǐ fācái) literally means "congratulations, may you become wealthy." It sounds more transactional in English than it is in practice — it's a warm, expected wish for prosperity and good fortune, said constantly during the holiday and especially before giving or receiving a red envelope (紅包).
Beyond the two universal lines, there are a handful of greetings for specific wishes:
The reunion-dinner night itself has its own greeting, separate from New Year's Day: 除夕快乐 (Chúxì kuàilè), "Happy New Year's Eve." Save 新年快乐 for the New Year's Day message that follows.
All of these greetings work in either form — the choice is about formality, not correctness.
Turn any of these phrases into festive fonts, then pair them with lantern and firecracker emoji, kaomoji, and ASCII art — free and instant.
Open the Chinese New Year Generator →For a broader set of characters beyond these phrases, see the Chinese Symbols library, or browse Cursive Fonts if you're styling a greeting card. If you're weighing whether styled Unicode text is safe to use in the first place, see is fancy text bad for accessibility.
新年快乐 (Xīnnián kuàilè) — literally 'New Year happy' — is the everyday, universal greeting, safe for family, friends, or coworkers. If you want something a little more festive and specifically about the season of luck, 恭喜发财 (Gōngxǐ fācái), 'wishing you prosperity,' is the other phrase almost everyone recognizes.
恭喜发财 (Gōngxǐ fācái) literally means 'congratulations, may you become wealthy.' It's less a literal request for money and more a general wish for prosperity and good fortune in the year ahead — it's the line said right before red envelopes are handed out.
除夕快乐 (Chúxì kuàilè) means 'Happy New Year's Eve' and is used for the reunion-dinner night itself, separately from 新年快乐 which is for New Year's Day and after.
Yes, for casual messages — many people text 'Xin Nian Kuai Le' in the Latin alphabet and it reads perfectly naturally. For anything more formal (a card, a banner, a business message), the native characters read as more intentional and respectful, so use 新年快乐 or 恭喜发财 directly where you can.
Use the Chinese New Year generator, which turns any of these phrases into festive fonts and pairs them with lantern and firecracker emoji, kaomoji, and ASCII art in one place.