About

Ni Hao Ma Xie Xie Wo Ai Ni (English: "How are you? Thank you, I love you") refers to a sound effect of a woman saying three basic Chinese phrases with an echo sound effect. The sound became popularized on TikTok in the early 2020s as it was paired with numerous sketches about the Asian-American experience, especially in Duets on the platform.

Origin

On August 24th, 2020, TikToker imworthitinc.com^[1] posted a response to a commenter asking "Do you support Chinese?" by saying "Ni Hao Ma. Xie Xie. Wo Ai Ni," which is Chinese for "How are you? Thank you. I love you." Her voice notably has an echo effect. The video gained over 283,000 likes in roughly one and a half years (shown below).

Spread

The video saw some minor spread after it was first posted, primarily from people poking fun at the original poster. On September 16th, 2020, mxmtoon posted a video duetting with the OP, imworthitinc, gaining over 138,000 likes in roughly a year and a half (shown below, left). On September 20th, imworthitinc posted a response to TikToker imlikebigtt acknowledging that her video had attracted attention (shown below, right).

The sound went viral in late 2021 and early 2022 as it was paired with skits related to Asian media and experiences. For example, on January 16th, 2022, user kashexotic posted a skit titled "when you have a Chinese best friend," gaining over 194,000 likes in roughly two months (shown below, left). On March 4th, TikToker audrey_in_seoul posted a skit that gained over 1.3 million likes in three days (shown below, right). As of March 7th, the sound has been used in over 4,400 videos.^[2]

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References