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10 Most Popular Emojis in China

ByDu Chinese

Do you use emojis/emoticons when you message your friends? What emojis do you like to use the most?

Emoji/emoticon in Chinese is 表情符号 [biǎo qíng fú hào], or just 表情 [biǎo qíng] for short. Chinese emojis are a little different than the emojis in the west. You can ask your Chinese friends like this:

Hover over any word to show translation
nǐ
你
你
nǐ
你 你
you (informal)
zài
在
在
zài
在 在
(located) at
(to be) in
wǎng shàng
网上
網上
wǎng shàng
网上 網上
online
hé
和
和
hé
和 和
with
together with
péng you
朋友
朋友
péng you
朋友 朋友
friend
liáo tiān
聊天
聊天
liáo tiān
聊天 聊天
to chat
to gossip
de
的
的
de
的 的
(used after an attribute)
shí hou
时候
時候
shí hou
时候 時候
time
 
，
，
xǐ huan
喜欢
喜歡
xǐ huan
喜欢 喜歡
to like
to be fond of
shǐ yòng
使用
使用
shǐ yòng
使用 使用
to use
to employ
biǎo qíng
表情
表情
biǎo qíng
表情 表情
(facial) expression
emoticon
ma
吗
嗎
ma
吗 嗎
(question particle for "yes-no" questions)
 
？
？
nǐ
你
你
nǐ
你 你
you (informal)
zuì
最
最
zuì
最 最
the most
xǐ huan
喜欢
喜歡
xǐ huan
喜欢 喜歡
to like
to be fond of
shǐ yòng
使用
使用
shǐ yòng
使用 使用
to use
to employ
de
的
的
de
的 的
(used after an attribute)
biǎo qíng
表情
表情
biǎo qíng
表情 表情
(facial) expression
emoticon
shì
是
是
shì
是 是
is
are
shén me
什么
什麼
shén me
什么 什麼
what
ne
呢
呢
ne
呢 呢
particle indicating that a previously asked question is to be applied to the preceding word ("What about ...?", "And ...?")
 
？
？
Do you like to use emoticons when you chat with your friends online? What emoticon do you like to use the most?
Character set
Pinyin

In 2015, China’s biggest social network website Tencent QQ published that year’s emoticon usage statistics.  Let’s take a look at what emoticons Chinese netizens like to use the most. 

  • No.1 呲牙/龇牙 [zī yá] – Grinning Face

    The grinning face emoticon symbolizes “courteous” or “cute”, and is commonly used by netizens around the country for greeting each other.

  • No.2 愤怒 [fèn nù] – Angry Face

    The angry face is popular among young users, and is reportedly used the most frequently on September 1st. This is because that is the day when Chinese school starts after summer vacation. Everyone wants to keep having summer vacation and not go to back school.

  • No.3 亲亲 [qīn qīn] – Kissing Face

    As you might guess, the kissing face is the favorite emoticon for couples.

  • No.4 偷笑 [tōu xiào] – Chuckle Face

  • No.5 敲打 [qiāo dǎ] – Punching Face

  • No.6 可怜 [kě lián] – Pitiful Face

  • No.7 抠鼻 [kōu bí] – Nose Picking

    The nose picking emoticon symbolizes “bored”, “indifferent”, or “disagreeing”. Some netizens claim that this usage data is inaccurate and that the nose picking emoticon is actually the one most used by Chinese netizens. Of course, many netizens also think the nose picking emoticon is disgusting and do not like to use it.

  • No.8 发呆 [fā dāi] – Absent-Minded Face

  • No.9 再见 [zài jiàn] – Goodbye Face

  • No.10 吓 [xià] – Scary Face

According to the gender difference data, boys are more likely to use the 骚 [sāo]（acting cool）emoticons, while girls like to use 萌 [méng]（cute, Moe）.

Emoticon usage statistics

There is also a set of very popular chat stamps which use the two characters Lilei and Hanmeimei “李雷和韩梅梅 [lǐ léi hé hán méi méi]. Lilei and Hanmeimei are characters from the junior high school English textbook in China, so the Chinese are very familiar with them.

Lilei and Hanmeimei

These stamps contain funny phrases with deliberately mistaken translations and Chinglish. For example, 不要熬夜 [bú yào áo yè] （Do not stay up late）is translated into “Do not Oh Yeah” because 熬夜 in Chinese sounds similar to the English “Oh Yeah”.

What are your thoughts on these Emojis?

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