How to Say “So long” in Chinese
Greetings and politeness · HSK 2
"So long" in Chinese is 再见 (zài jiàn). There's no exact match for the wistful English 'so long'; Chinese just uses 再见 ('meet again') as the all-purpose goodbye. Young people and WeChat chats lean heavily on 拜拜 (from English 'bye-bye,' often written 88 in texts because 八 bā sounds like 'bye').
Primary translation
再见
zài jiàn
Traditional: 再見
Variants by register
Casual
拜拜
bái bái
When to use it
There's no exact match for the wistful English 'so long'; Chinese just uses 再见 ('meet again') as the all-purpose goodbye. Young people and WeChat chats lean heavily on 拜拜 (from English 'bye-bye,' often written 88 in texts because 八 bā sounds like 'bye'). For a longer-term farewell where you won't see someone for a while, people say 保重 (bǎozhòng, 'take care') or 一路顺风 (yílù shùnfēng, 'smooth winds on your journey') for someone traveling.
Example sentences
好了，再见，保重！
Hǎo le, zàijiàn, bǎozhòng!
Alright, so long, take care!
拜拜，明年再见。
Báibái, míngnián zàijiàn.
So long, see you next year.
再见了，朋友，一路顺风。
Zàijiàn le, péngyǒu, yílù shùnfēng.
So long, friend, safe travels.