How to say "long time no see" in Chinese

When To Use It

"long time no see" maps to 好久不见 (hǎo jiǔ bú jiàn), a neutral social phrase for communication situations.

Use it when you need to keep a conversation moving despite a language gap, unclear wording, or missing context.

Practice it first exactly as written, then swap in your own people, places, or objects so it becomes part of your active speaking repertoire.

Tone And Delivery

The register is neutral, which makes it flexible: safe in most daily situations without sounding stiff or overly intimate.

Because this is marked intermediate, focus on when it sounds natural, not just how to translate it word for word.

A good practice target is the example sentence 你回来了，好久不见！ (nǐ huílái le, hǎojiǔ bú jiàn!). Once that feels natural, shorten your pause and try it at conversation speed.

Practice Ideas

This phrase becomes more useful when you learn it as part of a mini-sequence. After saying it, a natural next step could be 没问题 (méi wèn tí).

A second nearby phrase to review is 孙子兵法 (sūn zi bīng fǎ), which helps you stay in the same topic instead of translating from scratch again.

• Read the example “You're back, long time no see!” aloud, then replace one detail with your own information.
• Pair it with “No problem” next so your conversation does not stop after a single line.
• Match the phrase to your tone of voice: soft for polite requests, flatter and quicker for routine daily use.
• If you hear a slightly different version in the wild, compare the tone and context before treating it as interchangeable.