The absolute first word of Chinese you'd learn is "nihao" (Hello!).

While that is certainly a common and acceptable way to greet

someone, it's by far not the only one.

Let's start from the basics. "Nihao" (你好) literally means "you good"!

So the first category is replacing the "you" with specific names like

"teacher" or "doctor" - “老师好” or “大夫好”. A special upgraded

version of "nihao" is "nin hao" “您好”, which, like the French "vous",

is used to express respect or formality. Another special replacement

is “dajia hao” “大家好”, meaning "Hello everyone!"

Then there are time-specific greetings. Good morning is "zǎ o shàng

hǎ o" 早上好, sometimes abbreviated simply to "zao" 早 (early!). Good

afternoon is "xià wǔ hǎ o" 下午好, and so on.

A popular greeting among older Chinese is "chī le ma" 吃了吗? (Have

you eaten?) While you are supposed to reply literally, "chī le" (吃了,

I've eaten) if you have, it is also used to say hello and works the same

as “How are you”. After the famines of the 20th century, these

"survivors" having eaten means one more day of healthy living.

In ancient times, greetings were much more elaborate and different

classes of people used different greetings. For example, when

greeting minor nobility, some ordinary folk would say "qǐ ng ān" 请

安 while making a respectful gesture, touching the floor with one

hand. There are other greetings for greeting the emperor or other

levels of the nobility.

Next time you greet someone in Mandarin, you can try one of the

greetings I mentioned, or simply saying "Hi!" or "Hello". They have

been incorporated into Chinese as "嗨!" (hài, hi!) and "哈喽" (hā lóu,

hello!) just as almost everyone in the world knows "nihao", everyone

in China knows “Hello”!