蒜鸟蒜鸟suàn niǎo suàn niǎo

Forget it, forget it

suàn niǎo suàn niǎo, dōu bù róng yì.蒜鸟蒜鸟，都不容易。Forget it, forget it. It’s hard for everyone.

蒜鸟蒜鸟 is how 算了算了, “forget it, forget it”, sounds in Wuhan dialect. People say it to calm a quarrel, usually followed by 都不容易, “it’s hard for everyone”.

Took off: 2025
Started in: A Wuhan toy
Today: Current

What it means

In Wuhan dialect, 蒜鸟 is a sound-alike of 算了, “forget it”, The Paper explains. Written with 蒜, “garlic”, and 鸟, “bird”, it becomes “garlic bird”.

The full line asks both sides of a fight to let it go: forget it, forget it, life is hard for everyone. A joke version turns it around into “forget it, you can’t beat him anyway”. People online call the toy behind the meme Wuhan’s peace bird.

How people use it

蒜鸟 now means “let it go” well outside Wuhan. Say it to a friend who is angry about something small, or to yourself after a bad day.

亮亮

外卖又送错了，气死我了
wài mài yòu sòng cuò le, qì sǐ wǒ le
They got my delivery wrong again. I’m so mad.
蒜鸟蒜鸟，骑手也不容易
suàn niǎo suàn niǎo, qí shǒu yě bù róng yì
Forget it, forget it. It’s not easy for the riders either.
好吧，那我吃别的
hǎo ba, nà wǒ chī bié de
Fine. I’ll eat something else.

More examples

你们别吵了，蒜鸟蒜鸟。
nǐ men bié chǎo le, suàn niǎo suàn niǎo.
Stop arguing, you two. Let it go.
蒜鸟蒜鸟，为这点小事不值得。
suàn niǎo suàn niǎo, wèi zhè diǎn xiǎo shì bù zhí de.
Forget it. It’s not worth it over something this small.
被老板说了几句，蒜鸟，都不容易。
bèi lǎo bǎn shuō le jǐ jù, suàn niǎo, dōu bù róng yì.
My boss told me off a little. Forget it, it’s hard for everyone.

Where it came from

The meme is a toy. A Wuhan designer made a plush with a garlic top and a bird body to cheer up his wife after an argument, The Paper reports. Press its belly, and it says the line in Wuhan dialect.

Tencent News says he posted it on a short-video platform in October 2024, and many viewers asked to buy one. Wuhan Gift, a local souvenir company, began selling a co-branded version in November 2024, Guangming Online reports.

It became a hit in spring 2025. The first pop-up store opened in Wuhan on March 28, 2025, and Guangming Online counted more than 240 million views for the Douyin topic. The sources give slightly different dates and sales figures.

The original. A soft toy with a green-topped garlic head, a yellow face and a bird’s body. Pressed, it says the line in Wuhan dialect. Guangming Online describes it. Guangming Online (in Chinese)