Mandarin Minutes

wei = 喂 = hello (answering the telephone)

Answering the phone is as simple as saying wei, though many people follow that with nihao. Occasionally one may hear nihao instead of wei, and this usage is usually in a place of business, e.g. “nihao, thanks for calling XYZ Hotel”. Officially wei is meant to be said using the 4th tone but I often hear it as a 2nd or a 3rd tone  which is probably due to the questioning tone used when answering a phone. In fact, the 2nd tone in Chinese is explained in many places as being similar to answering the phone “hello” in English. For more on the 4 tones, please see The Fantastic 4.