15 Funny Chinese Memes to Help You Learn Chinese

Chinese memes are an excellent resource for Chinese language learners thanks to their combination of visual context and wordplay.
Not only do memes help boost your language skills, they also provide interesting insight into Chinese culture.
Let’s test your understanding of Chinese culture with these hilarious memes!

15 Hilarious Chinese Memes

1.

Family gatherings, especially when it’s Chinese New Year, are like a job interview for young Chinese people.
Relatives bombard them with questions like “Are you dating now?”, “So when are you getting married?”, “How many babies do you plan to have?”– that’s exactly what’s happening in this meme.
From the left to the right it reads “You are not young this young right?”, “Do you have a boyfriend?”, “When will you tie the knot?”, “Go find a good husband and get married soon”, “Baby always comes first for women, when are you planning to have a baby?”, “What about having a second kid?”. Yikes!

2.

Sometimes Chinese parents and relatives will ask questions relating to their younger family member’s career and school as well. If you are being bombarded with questions like these, why not be brave and answer truthfully, just like in this meme. “I am not doing well in school”, “I am not dating” and “There is nothing special at work”.

3.

We all know life is tough. The “Buddaha-like youngster” in this meme claims that he sees through the vanity of life. If you’re feeling disappointed or down, try keeping a casual and calm mindset like him.

4.

Have you ever been extremely upset (it’s written all over your face) but you claim you are doing fine? That’s what this meme depicts.“I am upset but I don’t say it”. It’s worth noting that in the meme the character uses the character for “baby”.

5.

Use this meme when you want to ask someone to leave but want to maintain a polite manner. It simply states “please go away, thank you”.

6.

This freaked out chicken meme reads “showing compassion to stupid people”. So next time your friend walks into a glass door, you can show him this.

7.

Do you know anyone who doesn’t think what anyone else has to say is that important? This meme is for them. The Chinese translates to “I don’t listen, I don’t listen”.

8.

“I am extremely sleepy but my smart phone is super addictive!”. I think we can all relate to this a little. It’s 2 am, how did that happen?! Ok, one last video…

9.

Are you a big spender who finds it tough to survive until the end of the month? If yes, this meme will resonate. “I used up the all of my salary”.

10.

Pickled fish (酸菜鱼) is a popular Chinese dish these days, but its Chinese name has a different meaning if you look at the word character by character. In this meme, it says “You are a pickled fish, which is stinky (酸/酸臭), weak (菜) and redundant (多余). It’s worth noting that 鱼 here has the same pronunciation as 余.

11.

“I feel like I reached my heyday!” A time to celebrate?

12.

Here is the key to denying like a pro – “I am not”, “I did not” and “Don’t bullshit”!

13.

You can use this meme if you are surprised by a piece of information. “操作” in this meme means “way” or “operation”. For example, if you’re surprised that coke can be used as a cleaner, you can say “还有这种操作?”.

14.

单身狗 (single dog) is a very popular term that teases people who are single. Sometimes people use this term to mock themselves as well. This meme makes fun of the singles by taunting “look at that single dog!”.

15.

This meme translates to “Me and my dear friends are all very shocked”. 小伙伴 here means dear friends in a casual way, and “惊呆了” means very shocked.

Learn Chinese Faster Using LingQ

Immersing yourself in Chinese doesn’t require you to travel abroad or sign up for an expensive language program.
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Enjoyed this post? Check out polyglot and LingQ cofounder Steve Kaufmann’s blog post for some tips on how to learn Chinese! 

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Annie Law grew up in Hong Kong and is fluent in Cantonese and Mandarin. She’s a reporter from 9-5 and a foodie 24/7 who’s proud to call Vancouver, Canada home.