Halloween—A Western Traditional Festival

Halloween is short for “All Hallow’s Eve”, which is popular in English speaking countries. With global economics and cultures developing increasing in recent years, Halloween is also welcomed in China as well. And lots of people show their enthusiasm to participate in various events or activities held for Halloween.

Meanwhile, Halloween is a traditional festival similar to Chinese ghost Festival. On the night of October 31st, people celebrated such a festival, when it was believed that ghosts of the dead returned to Earth cause mischief and trouble.

Celebrations include costuming, trick or treat, bombing for apples, pumpkin carving, and lighting bonfires. How do Chinese people express celebrations and items about Halloween in Chinese?

Firstly, let’s see some basic words of Halloween translated in Chinese.

wàn shènɡ jié
万圣节：Halloween

nǚ wū
女巫：witch

xī xuè ɡuǐ
吸血鬼：Vampire

biān fú
蝙蝠：bat

yōu línɡ/ɡuǐ hún
幽灵/鬼魂：ghost

jiānɡ shī
僵尸：zombie

kū lóu
骷髅：skeleton

nán ɡuā dēnɡ
南瓜灯：Jack O' Lantern

pínɡ ɡuǒ
苹果：apple

"bù ɡěi tánɡ jiù dǎo dàn"
“不给糖就捣蛋”："Trick or Treat"

Then, let’s learn some Chinese dialogues used in Halloween Festival.

wàn shènɡ jié kuài lè
A：万圣节快乐！
(Happy Halloween!)

xiè xiè! nǐ yě shì!
B：谢谢！你也是！
(Thanks! You, too!)

jīn wǎn huān lè ɡǔ yǒu wàn shènɡ jié de huó dònɡ, nǐ xiǎnɡ qù cān jiā mɑ？
A：今晚欢乐谷有万圣节的活动，你想去参加吗？
(There will be an activity celebrated for Halloween tonight, would you like to participate in?)

shì shén me huó dònɡ?
B：是什么活动？
(What kind of activity?)

shì huà zhuānɡ wǔ huì, wǒ huì dǎ bàn chénɡ xī xuè ɡuǐ！
A：是化装舞会，我会打扮成吸血鬼！
(It will be a fancy ball, and I will dress up a vampire!)

zhè me bànɡ! wǒ yě xiǎnɡ cān jiā! wǒ xiǎnɡ dǎ bàn chénɡ nǚ wū!
B：这么棒！我也想参加！我想打扮成女巫！
(So great! I want to join in! And I want to become a witch!)

hǎo a! nà wǒ men yì qǐ qù bɑ!
A：好啊！那我们一起去吧！
(Sounds good! Then let’s go together!)

This dialogue is mainly used to invite somebody to join in celebrations of Halloween. Here “欢乐谷” can be changed to other places, “化装舞会” can be reset by other activities, and “吸血鬼” and “女巫” can be replaced by other characters.

tīnɡ shuō Rainbow shānɡ chǎnɡ zài zuò wàn shènɡ jié de yōu huì huó dònɡ。
A：听说Rainbow商场在做万圣节的优惠活动。
(It is said that Rainbow Hall is offering special promotions because of Halloween.)

shì mɑ？fú zhuānɡ diàn hé cān tīnɡ dōu dǎ zhé mɑ？
B：是吗？服装店和餐厅都打折吗？
(Really? Any discount in clothes stores or restaurants?)

shì de，quán chǎnɡ yī fu dǎ bā zhé，chī fàn dǎ qī zhé。
A：是的，全场衣服打8折，吃饭打7折。
(Yes, the whole clothes will be offered with the 20% discount and the whole restaurants will provide 30% discount.)

wà！nà zhí dé yí ɡuànɡ！
B：哇！那值得一逛！
(Oh! Worth checking out!)

méi cuò，wǒ men xià bān zhī hòu yì qǐ qù ɡuànɡ bɑ!
A：没错，我们下班之后一起去逛吧！
(Yep, we could go together to have a look after work!)

This dialogue is used to talk about promotions because festivals of some malls when you want to go to have a look with your friends. The same with the last part, the adverbial words can be changed to other words and the discount also can be changed to other percentages.

Now I think you already learned some Chinese vocabulary about celebrating Halloween. Welcome to book a free trial lesson and let our teachers help in your Chinese right now!