How do I say 'how are you'?
The natural check-in among friends and acquaintances; 你好吗 is grammatically correct but socially narrow.
最近怎么样
How are you / how have you been?
How have things been lately?
How are you / how have you been?
WHEN IT FITS
你好吗 is every learner’s first Chinese sentence — and the one native speakers most associate with foreign learners. It is not wrong, but it belongs to a specific slot: formal first encounters, teacher-student exchanges, or situations where the relationship distance is real.
Real friends and acquaintances default to 最近怎么样 or a topic-specific variant like 最近工作怎么样 / 最近忙什么呢. The pattern is to ask about the recent period rather than the abstract state of “being well.” This is not a random preference — Chinese greetings tend to be concrete and time-bound (吃了吗, 去哪儿, 忙什么呢) rather than abstract well-being checks.
If you want to sound like you learned Chinese from people rather than from a textbook, swap 你好吗 for 最近怎么样 the moment you have any existing relationship with the person.
HOW PEOPLE ACTUALLY SAY IT
嘿，好久没联系了。最近怎么样？
Hey, haven't heard from you in a while. How have you been?
Reconnecting with a friend最近工作怎么样？
How's work been lately?
Adding a topic to the check-inCHOOSE BY SITUATION
你好吗
How are you?
First-time greeting, very formal settings, or when you have almost no relationship with the person吃了吗
Have you eaten?
Casual, traditional greeting among older generations or very familiar neighbors; not a literal meal invitation