# Gung Hay Fat Choy- Mandarin or Cantonese?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gung-hay-fat-choy-mandarin-or-cantonese/289785>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 12, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gung-hay-fat-choy-mandarin-or-cantonese/289785 "2005-02-12T20:58:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gung-hay-fat-choy-mandarin-or-cantonese/289785/1 "2005-02-12T20:58:00Z")

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I know that “Gung Hay Fat Choy” is a traditional greeting for Chinese New Year. Is it in Mandarin or Cantonese?

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**Author:** ![TheFifthYear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@TheFifthYear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFifthYear)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gung-hay-fat-choy-mandarin-or-cantonese/289785/2 "2005-02-12T21:05:47Z")

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Cantonese.

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**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gung-hay-fat-choy-mandarin-or-cantonese/289785/3 "2005-02-12T22:17:10Z")

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Xin nian kuai le is Mandarin.

Pronounced like “shin nien kwai luh.”

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**Author:** ![TitoBenito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2acd7d/32.png) [@TitoBenito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TitoBenito)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2005, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gung-hay-fat-choy-mandarin-or-cantonese/289785/4 "2005-02-13T07:08:08Z")

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Isn’t Gung Hay Fat Choy cantonese for gong xi fa cai.

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**Author:** ![bitwise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@bitwise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bitwise)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2005, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gung-hay-fat-choy-mandarin-or-cantonese/289785/5 "2005-02-13T07:35:56Z")

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> [@TitoBenito](#):
>
> Isn’t Gung Hay Fat Choy cantonese for gong xi fa cai.

Yes

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**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2005, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gung-hay-fat-choy-mandarin-or-cantonese/289785/6 "2005-02-13T07:50:52Z")

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Kung Hey Fat Choy is Cantonese. In Mandarin it is Gong Xi Fa Cai. The characters are the same, as is the meaning. 恭喜发财

Xin Nian Kuai Le is the other standard Mandarin greeting for Chinese New Year. It simply means Happy New Year. 新年快乐

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**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2005, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gung-hay-fat-choy-mandarin-or-cantonese/289785/7 "2005-02-13T10:48:30Z")

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Hongbao na lai!