520 我爱你 wǔ èr líng
May 20th, the number that says “I love you”.
The short answer
CasualNow commonChecked November 2026
520 is internet shorthand for 我爱你 (wǒ ài nǐ), “I love you”. By extension, May 20th is China's internet Valentine's Day — for red envelopes, confessions, and marriage registrations.
In a chat
- 亮亮 Liangliang
今天520，我要给女朋友发个红包。
It's 520 today. I'm sending my girlfriend a red envelope.
- 灯灯 Dengdeng
发多少？
How much?
- 亮亮 Liangliang
当然是520！
520, of course!
- 灯灯 Dengdeng
那她会回你521吧。
Then she'll probably answer with 521.
In the Dengdeng app, Dengdeng and his friends text you in Chinese every day, at your level.
How to reply
521！
521! (I do.)
我也爱你。
I love you too.
When not to use it
- Do not send 520 or 1314 (一生一世, “forever”) to someone you are not dating. People read the number as a love message.
- From a coworker or a client, 520 is a joke at best. It can make things awkward.
What it means
Chinese is rich in near-homophones, and romance claims the best ones. Read quickly, 520 — wǔ èr líng — brushes past 我爱你, wǒ ài nǐ. The digits became a way to say the sentence in text messages, then a date on the calendar.
The nearby 521 (wǔ èr yī) extends the code with 我愿意, “I do / I'm willing”.
How people use it
The customs are young but firm: send a 520-yuan red envelope, confess to a crush, register a marriage — civil affairs offices report long lines every May 20th — and post the evidence.
Brands run 520 campaigns like Valentine's ones. If you receive a 520-yuan transfer, the message is not the money.
Where it comes from
Nobody knows who first used 520. There are several stories, and none has a reliable source. What is clear is the custom: May 20 is now a day for confessions, red envelopes and marriage registrations.
It belongs to the same digit-slang family as 666 and 996, and to a long Chinese tradition of homophone play — the same instinct that avoids the number 4 because it echoes “death”.
In use
2 examples5月20日那天，他给她发了520元的红包。
On May 20th he sent her a 520-yuan red envelope.
今天是520，民政局门口排起了长队。
It's May 20th — long lines formed outside the marriage registry.
The characters
Explore individuallyIndividual character meanings do not always explain the meaning of the whole word.
Sources
This guide is original Dengdeng editorial content, offered under CC BY-SA 4.0. The linked dictionary entries adapt CC-CEDICT under the same license.