Ni hao (pronounced "nee haow") is the basic, default greeting in Chinese. It is written as 你好 / nǐ hǎo.

Where does Ni Hao come from?

"Ni hao" (你好 nǐ hǎo) means "Hello" in Mandarin, and Kai-Lan (凯兰 Kǎilán) is the Chinese name Chau was given at birth, which was later anglicized to Karen.

What country is the word Ni Hao?

In a changing China, it's the little words that count. The shift of one short and sweet phrase, "ni hao," from a formal greeting into an all-purpose equivalent of "hi" or "hey" is a case in point.