How do I say 'cheers'?
The standard toast — but be aware that in some contexts it genuinely means emptying your glass.
干杯
Cheers / bottoms up.
Dry the glass.
Cheers / bottoms up.
WHEN IT FITS
干杯 is the universal Chinese toast, but it sits on a spectrum from “cheers” to “drain your glass,” and misreading the context can mean drinking more than you intended. At formal dinners and banquets, especially in business settings, 干杯 often means exactly what it says: dry the glass. Among friends at a casual restaurant, it is looser — a sip is fine.
The safer modern alternative is 随意 (“as you wish”) — it toasts the moment without the pressure to finish. Younger Chinese increasingly use this, especially in mixed company where not everyone drinks alcohol or wants to keep pace.
The Chinese toast ritual has layers of etiquette: when toasting someone senior, hold your glass lower than theirs (the lower glass = respect), make eye contact, and if they are across a large table, you may tap the table with your glass as a symbolic clink. 我敬你 (I toast you) is the formal verb for a one-on-one toast of respect.
碰一个 is the casual friend version — just “clink one” — with zero ceremony.
HOW PEOPLE ACTUALLY SAY IT
来，大家干杯！
Come on, everyone — cheers!
Group toast我敬你一杯。
I toast you / here's to you.
Formal one-on-one toastCHOOSE BY SITUATION
随意
As you like / drink comfortably.
You want to toast without the pressure to finish — polite and modern碰一个
Let's clink glasses.
Very casual among friends — just clink and drink however much you want