7 Hilarious Chinese Jokes To Make You Laugh (With Explanations!)

Q: Is Chinese humour understood by Westerners?

As with any culture, learning the humour takes some time . You have to live here long enough to understand the humour, and of course, learning the language helps. A lot of Chinese humour is created online these days through Social Media and keeping up with these trends takes time and a fair amount of effort. Being immersed in China is the best way to help understand the humour here.

Q: What are the main differences between Western and Chinese humour?

Taboo topics in Chinese humour can relate to personal life , the government and causing someone to lose face . Sarcasm is one key aspect where opinion splits in Chinese culture . Some believe sarcastic comments and jokes go over the heads of Chinese whereas others claim the humour is the same. This very much depends on where you are in China, who you are interacting with etc. Lots of Chinese now expose themselves to Western TV culture, bridging the gap between humour and language. Physical comedy is one thing in China that is not really considered so funny. Certain comedians use physical comedy as a key area to stand up comedy, this isn't so in China.

Q: How do stand-up comedians differ in China and the West?

Chinese audiences tend to enjoy a lack of facial expressions on stand-up comedians. In the West, generally, bigger responses come from a comedian who is more physical with their actions. One of China's top comedians 黄西 (huáng xī) Joe Wong famously did this at a stand-up. “Hi, everybody… So, I’m Irish". His facial expression was blank but he drew a huge response from his adoring audience. In China, crosstalk is hugely popular with the audience. Crosstalk is a fast and quite cheesy stand-up which normally includes singing and dancing.

Q: What is the best way to learn about Chinese humour?

Learning the language from the start and being thrust into an all-Chinese environment is the best way. Humour and comedy, in any language, take quite some time to pick up. You'll need to gain a basic understanding in the language first, before perhaps making local friends . This is a great way to boost your ability, and talk about comedy and how it differs from your country. There is no substitute for being immersed in China.

Laugh Your Way to Better Mandarin with Our Top 7 Jokes PLUS Chinese Memes!

Mastered basic Mandarin conversations?Time to tackle humor!

Understanding jokes in another language means you’re truly beginning to think in that language.

Chinese humor, with its love of puns (双关语, shuāngguānyǔ), offers a perfect opportunity to deepen your language skills while having fun.

In this post, we’ll explore seven Chinese jokes and Chinese language-themed memes with explanations that will enhance your language comprehension and give you some great conversation starters with native speakers.

Ready to laugh your way to better Chinese?

Jokes in Chinese | Life Advice
Jokes in Chinese | Alphabet Humour
Jokes in Chinese | Marriage Advice
Jokes in Chinese | Fruit Humour
Jokes in Chinese | Vampires and Spicy Food
Jokes in Chinese | Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?
Jokes in Chinese | Spiderman
BONUS | Chinese Memes
BONUS #2 | Chinglish in China

PLAY

Chinese Joke #1: Life advice

Outsmarted by your child. It happens to parents all the time! Here’s a prime example!

^{māma shuō: “jīntiān néng wánchéngde shì bùyào liú dào míngtiān”}

妈妈说：”今天能完成的事，不要留到明天”

_{Mom says: Do not put off until tomorrow what you can do today.}

^{érzi huídá : “hǎoba ba, quán dàngāo gěiwǒ wǒ 。 dōu chīguāng le ba”}

儿子回答：“好吧，把全蛋糕给我，我今天都吃光了吧”

_{The son responds: Okay, then give me the whole cake. I will eat the whole thing today.}

Chinese Joke #2: Alphabet Humour

A clever joke that plays on the order of the alphabet, ABCD.

^{shéi bǐjiào gāo? A háishi C?}

谁比较高？A还是C？

_{Who is taller? A or C?}

^{C, yīnwèi A bǐ C dī 。}

C, 因为，A比C低。

_{C because, A is lower than C.}

The humor comes from the phrase “A 比 C 低” (A bǐ C dī), which means “A is lower than C”, but also sounds like “A, B, C, D” when spoken aloud.

Since 低 (dī, meaning “low”) sounds like the letter D, the sentence sounds like the sequence “A, B, C, D,” making it a clever pun!

Chinese Joke #3: Marriage Advice

An inquisitive kid gets a true reality check at the cost of weddings!

^{yī gè xiǎo hái ér wèn tā de bà ba: “bà ba, jié hūn xū yào huā duō shǎo qián?”}

一个小孩儿问他的爸爸：“爸爸，结婚需要花多少钱”

_{A little kid asked his father: “Dad, how much does it cost to get married?”}

^{bà ba shuō: “ér zi, wǒ bù zhī dào. Wǒ hái zài fù kuǎn!”}

爸爸说：“儿子，我不知道。我还在付款!”

_{The father said: “Son, I don’t know. I’m still paying!”}

This one is pretty self-explanatory because it plays on the idea that marriage is so expensive that the cost never really ends. The child asks, “Dad, how much does it cost to get married?”The father responds, “Son, I don’t know. I’m still paying!” Relatable? 👀

Mandarin Joke #4: Fruit Humour

Notice we switched from Chinese to Mandarin, but why?

Here’s why!

Back to basics with these two! No one need know any Mandarin to understand these. Simple is best, less is more! These were too fun not to share!

For the record the Mandarin is saying Happy Birthday in Chinese 生日快乐, the poor old apple will never know!

Chinese + English = Chinglish 😲 You Must See To Believe

Chinglish – Sometimes you have to see it to believe it. You will be amazed at some of these language mishaps that are made when translating to Chinese.

Chinese Joke #5: Vampires and Spicy Food

If you’ve ever been to China before, you’ve probably encountered some pretty spicy food.

But can vampires handle the heat? Let’s find out…

^{Xīxuèguǐ chī là ma?}

吸血鬼吃辣吗？

_{Do vampires eat spicy food?}

^{Bù chī, yīnwèi tāmen zhǐ chī bù là de.}

不吃，因为他们只吃不辣的。

_{No, because they only eat ‘blood’ (literally: non-spicy)}

This joke is funny because it plays on a pun that works in Chinese but it might get a little lost in translation to English. So here’s a quick breakdown:

In Chinese, the question “吸血鬼吃辣吗?” asks if vampires eat spicy food. The response “不吃，因为他们只吃不辣的。” has a clever wordplay:

“不辣的” (bù là de) means “non-spicy” things
But it sounds like “blood” in English 🩸

So the punchline literally translates to “No, because they only eat non-spicy things,” but the pronunciation of “不辣的” (non-spicy) sounds similar to the English word “blood.”

Chinese Joke #6: Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

This one is a classic in English. But how does it go in Mandarin?

^{Wèishéme jī yàoguò mǎlù?}

为什么鸡要过马路？

_{Why did the chicken cross the road?}

^{Yīnwèi tā xiǎng zhǎo yīgè”jīhuì”!}

因为它想找一个”机会”！

_{Because it wants to find an “opportunity”!}

The classic joke “Why did the chicken cross the road?” traditionally has the punchline “To get to the other side.”

In this version, the chicken crosses the road for a “机会” (jīhuì), which means “opportunity” in Chinese. However, the “机” in “机会” (jīhuì) sounds similar to “chicken” when pronounced.

In Mandarin, chicken is 鸡 (jī) 🐔

12 City Names in Chinese 😂 The Funniest Literal Translations

City Names in Chinese 😅 Funny Chinese Translations Ready for some hilarious city names in Chinese direct translations? Chinese to English translations sometimes make little to no sense! Although Chinese is an incredibly logical language to learn we can’t help…

Chinese Jokes | Spiderman

This one is for the Marvel fans out there! Though bear in mind this joke is based on a pun, so it doesn’t translate well to English!

^{shéi zuì zhīdao zhū?}

谁最知道猪？

_{Who knows pigs best?}

^{zhī zhū rén!}

蜘蛛人!

_Spiderman!

The humor in this joke comes from the sound similarity:

“蜘蛛” (zhī zhū) which means “spider” sounds the same as “知猪” (zhī zhū) which means “to know pigs”.

So when asked who knows pigs best, the answer is “Spiderman” – which makes no logical sense but works as a pun because “knows pigs” (zhī zhū) and “spider” (zhī zhū) sound very similar in Chinese.

It’s a classic example of a homophonic pun where the joke relies entirely on similar-sounding words rather than any actual connection between pigs and Spiderman.

Chinese Jokes | Memes

Memes appear to me all the rage online these dates, no matter what way you pronounce it!

In fact, there are so many we’ve not got one but TWO dedicated posts regarding Chinese Memes which are:

Some of our favourite Chinese Memes
Make your own Chinese Memes – choose from our selection of 100 templates and send us your very own!

Here are some of our favourites across the two blogs!

Chinglish in China

And just to wrap up, it wouldn’t be a blog of jokes without some Chinglish thrown in there.

For those of you who don’t know, the equation is simple

Chinese + English = Chinglish!

Again – we dedicated a whole blog towards Chinglish which you have to check out – 20 of the finest examples, but here are some of our favourites.

We hope you enjoyed our series of Chinese jokes, videos, memes and the rest of it!

Ask your friends or Chinese teacher to share their favourite Chinese jokes with you.

Feeling brave? Try translating some of these jokes from English into Chinese!

Whether you’re already in China or hoping to visit in the future, having a few jokes up your sleeve is a good way to break the ice, impress your friends, and feel more confident in your language use skills.

Like learning jokes in other languages? Then why not check out our favourite Japanese jokes. Russian jokes, and our favourite Korean Jokes also.

Jokes in Chinese || FAQs

Why do Chinese jokes often rely on puns?

Chinese is a tonal language, meaning many words sound similar but have different meanings. This makes puns and wordplay a common source of humor.

How do you say ‘joke’ in Chinese?

The word for “joke” in Chinese is 笑话 (xiàohuà). You can also say 冷笑话 (lěng xiàohuà) for a “cold joke,” meaning a corny or dad joke.

Is Chinese humour understood by Westerners?

As with any culture, learning the humour takes some time. You have to live here long enough to understand the humour, and of course, learning the language helps.

A lot of Chinese humour is created online these days through Social Media and keeping up with these trends takes time and a fair amount of effort. Being immersed in China is the best way to help understand the humour here.

What are the main differences between Western and Chinese humour?

Taboo topics in Chinese humour can relate to personal life, the government and causing someone to lose face.

Sarcasm is one key aspect where opinion splits in Chinese culture.

Some believe sarcastic comments and jokes go over the heads of Chinese whereas others claim the humour is the same. This very much depends on where you are in China, who you are interacting with etc.

Lots of Chinese now expose themselves to Western TV culture, bridging the gap between humour and language.

Physical comedy is one thing in China that is not really considered so funny. Certain comedians use physical comedy as a key area to stand up comedy, this isn’t so in China.

How do stand-up comedians differ in China and the West?

Chinese audiences tend to enjoy a lack of facial expressions on stand-up comedians. In the West, generally, bigger responses come from a comedian who is more physical with their actions.

One of China’s top comedians 黄西 (huáng xī) Joe Wong famously did this at a stand-up. “Hi, everybody… So, I’m Irish”. His facial expression was blank but he drew a huge response from his adoring audience.

In China, crosstalk is hugely popular with the audience. Crosstalk is a fast and quite cheesy stand-up which normally includes singing and dancing.

What is the best way to learn about Chinese humour?

Learning the language from the start and being thrust into an all-Chinese environment is the best way.

Humour and comedy, in any language, take quite some time to pick up. You’ll need to gain a basic understanding in the language first, before perhaps making local friends.

This is a great way to boost your ability, and talk about comedy and how it differs from your country. There is no substitute for being immersed in China.

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7 Hilarious Chinese Jokes That Will Make You Laugh (With Explanations!)