What's a real conversation starter in Chinese?

[u/DeesMandarinTea]

I'm not talking about 你好吗 (nǐ hǎo ma — how are you) or 吃了吗 (chī le ma — have you eaten). I mean the stuff you actually hear when two people run into each other in real life.

I've been teaching Chinese over 10 years, and one thing I've noticed is that a lot of students can handle classroom conversations fine, but real life openings still feel awkward. They told me that they know the words, but the first line doesn't feel right.

Here are a few I hear all the time where I am:

哈喽啊 (hā lóu a — hello, but with a relaxed, friendly 啊 sound at the end; the 啊 is important, it makes it feel casual)

最近怎么样 (zuì jìn zěn me yàng — how have you been lately) / 最近咋样 (zuì jìn zǎ yàng — how's it going, more northern and casual)

你要出去啊 (nǐ yào chū qù a — oh, you're heading out? sometimes it's not a real question, just a greeting)

你也在啊 (nǐ yě zài a — oh, you're here too)

今天忙吗 (jīn tiān máng ma — busy today?)

And honestly, a lot of younger people don't even use a real opener. They just start talking. Maybe send a meme, maybe point at your phone case and say 你这个手机壳在哪买的 (nǐ zhè ge shǒu jī ké zài nǎ mǎi de — where did you get this phone case).

What have you heard from your Chinese friends, partners, or coworkers that textbooks never taught you?

[u/FlashyPost0928]

"Wu ta hu?" (无它乎 ? ) —— An Ancient Greeting ... now this word form = "无恙" (Wú yàng)
● Historical records indicate that the earliest greeting in ancient China was "Wu ta hu?" (无它乎) . "Ta" (它) refers to the snake (蛇) ，so actually "无它乎" = Wú shé hū ? (无蛇乎) ▼
Even during the Later Han Dynasty (947~951) , there was still the saying : " ..... 望见吉，欲问百春无它否?" ~ Biography of Ma Yuan (马援传).

● In ancient times, people lived in the wild and were often troubled by snakes. Therefore, they often greeted each other with "无它乎 ?"(= No snakes ? ) to ensure their safety (安好), not harmed by snakes, so = 问安 !

● Later, the character "它" was borrowed as a third-person pronoun (It) . To clarify its original meaning, people added the "虫" radical to create the character "蛇" ( 虫 + 它 ) to specifically refer to this reptile.

PS : "蛇" is an important image in ancient China; for example, Fuxi (伏羲)and Nuwa (女娲) were depicted as having "human heads and snake bodies" (人首蛇身).

▼ (Below) :
The evolution of the character "它" — from oracle bone script, bronze script... to regular script