Rain, Heat and Bad Luck: 5 Everyday Chinese Jokes

Talking about the weather is the universal conversation, and Chinese is no different: 下雨了 (xià yǔ le, it's raining), 太热了 (tài rè le, it's so hot). But online, even the weather gets described as if it were a technical report or a machine manual.

In this part of the series you'll see five everyday phrases, from the weather to shopping and bad luck, with their overblown versions, pinyin, literal translations and the vocabulary you need to use them.

In this article:

1. It's raining: 下雨了 (xià yǔ le)
2. It's so hot: 太热了 (tài rè le)
3. It's freezing: 太冷了 (tài lěng le)
4. Going shopping: 出门逛街 (chūmén guàngjiē)
5. Such bad luck: 运气太差 (yùnqi tài chà)
6. Weather in Chinese, the normal version

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1. It's raining: 下雨了 (xià yǔ le)

The normal phrase: 下雨了 (xià yǔ le): "it's raining, it started to rain."

The funny version:

Why it's funny: Rain becomes a scheduled job, like the trucks that water the streets in Chinese cities. "批量" (pīliàng, in bulk, batch) is a factory or software word, and applied to the sky it creates a very funny image.

Key vocabulary:

• 下雨 (xià yǔ): to rain
• 天空 (tiānkōng): sky
• 批量 (pīliàng): in bulk, batch
• 洒水 (sǎshuǐ): to sprinkle water
• 作业 (zuòyè): operation, task (also homework)

Cultural context: Many Chinese cities have street-watering trucks, "洒水车" (sǎshuǐchē), that clean the streets and often play a tune as they go. That's why the image of the sky "watering" feels so familiar.

Use it like this:

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2. It's so hot: 太热了 (tài rè le)

The normal phrase: 太热了 (tài rè le): "it's so hot!"

The funny version:

Why it's funny: Complaining about the heat sounds like a scientific fact. "阈值" (yùzhí, threshold) is a technical word used in medicine or engineering, and saying it while melting at a bus stop is exactly what makes it funny.

Key vocabulary:

• 热 (rè): hot
• 环境 (huánjìng): environment
• 温度 (wēndù): temperature
• 阈值 (yùzhí): threshold

Cultural context: In summer, cities like Chongqing, Wuhan and Nanjing are famous for their sweltering heat; they've traditionally been called China's "火炉" (huǒlú), its "furnaces".

Use it like this:

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3. It's freezing: 太冷了 (tài lěng le)

The normal phrase: 太冷了 (tài lěng le): "it's so cold!"

The funny version:

Why it's funny: Your body works like a weather service with automatic alerts. The phrase uses the language of official warnings, "预警" (yùjǐng, early warning) and "机制" (jīzhì, mechanism), for something as simple as shivering at a metro stop.

Key vocabulary:

• 冷 (lěng): cold
• 体感 (tǐgǎn): how something feels to the body
• 触发 (chùfā): to trigger
• 御寒 (yùhán): to keep out the cold
• 预警 (yùjǐng): early warning

Cultural context: In southern China many homes have no central heating, since it was historically installed only north of the Huai River. That's why southern winters, although milder than northern ones, feel very harsh indoors.

Use it like this:

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4. Going shopping: 出门逛街 (chūmén guàngjiē)

The normal phrase: 出门逛街 (chūmén guàngjiē): "to go out shopping, to stroll around the shops."

The funny version:

Why it's funny: Going shopping sounds like a cultural expedition or an artist's field trip. "采风" (cǎifēng) is what writers and painters do when they travel for inspiration, and using it for window shopping gives a very intellectual air to a shopping afternoon.

Key vocabulary:

• 逛街 (guàngjiē): to go window shopping
• 实地 (shídì): on site
• 巡游 (xúnyóu): tour, parade
• 采风 (cǎifēng): to gather local culture for inspiration

Cultural context: "City walk" (城市漫步 (chéngshì mànbù) chéngshì mànbù), strolling around the city with no fixed route, became a huge trend among young Chinese people. This phrase is its most overblown version.

Use it like this:

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5. Such bad luck: 运气太差 (yùnqi tài chà)

The normal phrase: 运气太差 (yùnqi tài chà): "my luck is terrible."

The funny version:

Why it's funny: Luck becomes a video game stat, "幸运值" (xìngyùnzhí), or a stock chart that keeps falling. It's a fun way to complain when the bus leaves just as you arrive, or when you never win the lucky draw.

Key vocabulary:

• 运气 (yùnqi): luck
• 幸运值 (xìngyùnzhí): luck stat (game stat)
• 低谷 (dīgǔ): low point, trough
• 长期 (chángqī): long-term

Cultural context: In China, luck is taken seriously: there are lucky numbers (8), lucky colors (red), and many young people share "转发锦鲤" (zhuǎnfā jǐnlǐ), reposting an image of a koi carp to attract good fortune.

Use it like this:

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Weather in Chinese, the normal version

Before jumping into the overblown versions, make sure you've mastered the basic weather phrases, which you'll use every day:

• 今天天气怎么样？ (jīntiān tiānqì zěnmeyàng?): what's the weather like today?
• 下雨了 (xià yǔ le): it's raining. 下雪了 (xià xuě le): it's snowing.
• 太热了 (tài rè le) / 太冷了 (tài rè le / tài lěng le): it's so hot / so cold.
• 带伞 (dài sǎn): to bring an umbrella.

And once you've got them, try dropping a "天空开启批量洒水作业模式" (tiānkōng kāiqǐ pīliàng sǎshuǐ zuòyè móshì) the next time it rains: your Chinese friends won't see it coming.

Keep reading the series

This article is part of our series on Chinese social media humor:

• 聊天带梗 (liáotiān dài gěng): How Chinese People Turn Simple Phrases into Jokes
• Chinese Office Humor: 8 Funny Ways to Talk About Work
• Emotions in Chinese, with Humor: 8 Funny Ways to Say How You Feel
• Hunger, Food and Diets: 7 Chinese Jokes for the Table
• Sleep and Tiredness: 6 Funny Chinese Ways to Say You're Exhausted
• Your Brain Is a Computer: 5 Chinese Jokes About Memory and the Mind
• Witty Comebacks in Chinese: 8 Phrases to Answer with Humor
• Love and Social Life in Chinese: 6 Funny Phrases About Relationships

If you like internet expressions, you may also enjoy: Internet Slang: The Words Young Chinese People Use Online, The 10 Trending Words in China in 2026.