喜酒

xǐjiǔ
noun HSK 7-9 #63,015

Meanings

  1. 1 wedding feast; wedding banquet
  2. 2 wine served at a wedding

Characters

Literally 'happy wine/banquet' - alcohol is central to Chinese wedding celebrations.

Examples

HSK 1
Tā qǐng le sānbǎi duō rén lái hē xǐjiǔ.
He invited over 300 people to the wedding feast.
HSK 2
Xiàzhōu wǒ yào qù hē xǐjiǔ.
I'm going to a wedding banquet next week.

Tips

culture
喝喜酒 (drink wedding wine) is the colloquial way of saying 'attend a wedding banquet.' The focus on drinking reveals how central alcohol is to Chinese celebrations. At a typical Chinese wedding banquet, guests toast the couple repeatedly with 白酒 (baijiu), and the groom often has to drink with every table.

Stroke Order

jiǔ