How to Say “Welcome back” in Chinese
Greetings and politeness · HSK 2
"Welcome back" in Chinese is 欢迎回来 (Huānyíng huílái). 欢迎回来 works in a wide range of situations; greeting a colleague returning from vacation, a family member coming home, or a customer revisiting a shop. Shopkeepers often shout this at the door in a sing-song tone: 欢迎光临! (huānyíng guānglín) is for first arrivals, 欢迎回来 for returning customers.
Primary translation
欢迎回来
Huānyíng huílái
Traditional: 歡迎回來
When to use it
欢迎回来 works in a wide range of situations; greeting a colleague returning from vacation, a family member coming home, or a customer revisiting a shop. Shopkeepers often shout this at the door in a sing-song tone: 欢迎光临! (huānyíng guānglín) is for first arrivals, 欢迎回来 for returning customers. In apps like Taobao or Meituan, you'll see 欢迎回来 as an auto-greeting when you log in. Note 回来 (huílái) carries a 'come back here' directional sense; from the speaker's perspective. If you're welcoming someone back to a place you're not at, you'd say 欢迎你回去 (return there) instead.
Example sentences
欢迎回来！旅行怎么样？
Huānyíng huílái! Lǚxíng zěnmeyàng?
Welcome back! How was the trip?
老板，欢迎回来，您的咖啡我记得。
Lǎobǎn, huānyíng huílái, nín de kāfēi wǒ jìde.
Boss, welcome back, I remember your coffee order.
欢迎回来上班，假期过得好吗？
Huānyíng huílái shàngbān, jiàqī guò de hǎo ma?
Welcome back to work, did you have a good holiday?