How to say “New Year's Day” in Chinese
New Year's Day (January 1)
“New Year's Day” in Chinese is 元旦, yuán dàn: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
元旦 is read yuán dàn: 2 syllables. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
The sun 日 above the horizon line. 元旦 — the “first dawn” of the year.
Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “元旦”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 元旦. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 在中国，元旦没有过年热闹。zàiZhōngguó,yuándànméiyǒuguòniánrènaoIn China, New Year's Day on January 1 isn't as lively as the Spring Festival.
- 元旦是一月一号yuándànshìyīyuèyīhàoYuandan is January 1.
- 元旦和过年，哪个更热闹？yuándànhéguònián,nǎgegèngrènaoWhich is livelier: New Year's Day on January 1 or the Spring Festival?
More words from the lesson “Holidays and anniversaries”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “New Year's Day” in Chinese?
“New Year's Day” in Chinese is 元旦, pinyin yuándàn.
What does 元旦 mean?
元旦 (yuándàn) means “New Year's Day (January 1)”.
How do you write 元旦?
元旦 is 2 characters: 元 (yuán) — yuan; 旦 (dàn) — dawn. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 元旦?
元旦 is read yuándàn. Tones: yuán — second tone, dàn — fourth tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“New Year's Day” in the lesson “Holidays and anniversaries”
This word is from the topic “Traditions and thought” of HSK 5. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.
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