Qipao and cheongsam are two names for the same dress. Qipao is the Mandarin word, cheongsam the Cantonese one, and both describe the fitted Chinese dress with a standing mandarin collar, frog buttons and side slits. Which word you hear mostly depends on where the speaker comes from, not on the cut of the dress.
That is the short version. The longer one explains why a single garment ended up with two names, why English uses both, and what actually changed between the loose robes of the 1920s and the dresses you see today.
What does “qipao” mean?
Qipao (旗袍, pronounced roughly chee-pow) means “banner gown.” The “banner” refers to the Banner people, the Manchu families organized into the Eight Banners who ruled China during the Qing dynasty (1644–1912). Manchu women wore long, loose robes, and qipao was the word for the gown of a Banner woman.
When the dress was reinvented in the 1920s, the name stayed. In mainland China, Taiwan and in Mandarin generally, qipao is still the everyday word for the women’s dress.
What does “cheongsam” mean?
Cheongsam (長衫, pronounced roughly chong-sahm) is Cantonese for “long garment” or “long shirt.” In Mandarin, the same characters read changshan and usually mean the men’s long gown. In Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong and Guangdong, however, cheongsam came to mean the women’s dress as well.
So a Mandarin speaker who hears “changshan” may picture a man’s robe, while a Hong Kong tailor who hears “cheongsam” pictures a close-fitting women’s dress. Same characters, different habits.
Why does English use both words?
Because the dress reached the English-speaking world through two routes. Hong Kong, a British colony until 1997, was where many Westerners first saw and bought the dress, so cheongsam entered English early and appears in older dictionaries, novels and films. Qipao spread later, with Mandarin, mainland Chinese fashion and online shopping.
Today Americans search for both, and slightly more often for “qipao.” You will find both words on our site for exactly that reason. Some shops use “cheongsam” for modern cuts and “qipao” for traditional ones, but that is a shop’s own convention, not a rule.
| Qipao | Cheongsam | |
|---|---|---|
| Characters | 旗袍 | 長衫 |
| Language | Mandarin | Cantonese |
| Literal meaning | Banner gown | Long garment |
| Most used in | Mainland China, Taiwan | Hong Kong, southern China, older English texts |
| The dress itself | Identical: standing collar, frog buttons, diagonal opening, side slits | |
How did the dress change from the 1920s to today?
The qipao most people picture today was born in 1920s Shanghai. Women students and city dwellers adapted the long Manchu robe into something slimmer and more modern, and Shanghai tailors, influenced by Western dressmaking, kept refining it. Through the 1930s and 1940s the dress became more fitted, the sleeves shorter, the hem and the side slits higher or lower with each season’s fashion. It was everyday wear, office wear and evening wear at the same time.
After 1949, many Shanghai tailors moved to Hong Kong, and the 1950s and 1960s became the dress’s great era there. Tailors introduced darts and zippers for a closer fit, and the cheongsam was worn to school, to work and to banquets. Films carried the look abroad; in the 2000 film In the Mood for Love, Maggie Cheung wears a different cheongsam in almost every scene, and the film is still a reference for anyone who loves the style.
From the 1970s the dress slowly left daily wardrobes and became occasion wear: weddings, Lunar New Year, formal dinners, school uniforms in some Hong Kong schools, and a favorite of designers who keep reinventing it.
What makes a dress a qipao or a cheongsam?
Whatever you call it, you will recognize it by a few details:
- Mandarin collar: a standing collar that closes at the front of the neck.
- Frog buttons (pankou): knotted fabric closures, often shaped like flowers or butterflies.
- Diagonal opening: the front panel crosses from the collar towards the right underarm instead of opening down the middle.
- Side slits: they let you walk in a close-fitting dress, and their height changes with the style.
- A fitted line: the dress follows the body from the shoulders to the hips.
Length, sleeves and fabric are free. A floor-length embroidered gown and a knee-length printed dress are both qipao, as long as those codes are there.
Is a modern qipao still a qipao?
Yes. Designers have always played with the dress: shorter hems, sleeveless and halter cuts, lace, velvet, sequins, even two-piece sets. As long as the collar, the closure and the fitted line remain, the dress keeps its identity. A “traditional” qipao simply sticks closer to the long, straight silhouette of 1930s Shanghai. You can compare both styles in our qipao and cheongsam collection, or go straight to the classic cuts in traditional Chinese dresses.
How do you pronounce qipao and cheongsam?
Qipao sounds like “chee-pow”: the Mandarin q is close to an English ch. Cheongsam sounds like “chong-sahm” in English; in Cantonese the first syllable is closer to “cheung.” Nobody will mind if your accent is not perfect.
Which word should you use?
Either. In the United States, “qipao” is a little more common in searches and “cheongsam” sounds familiar to anyone who knows Hong Kong films, so use whichever feels natural to you. If you are shopping, search for both: some shops only use one of the two words.
If you are choosing a dress for a specific day, these pages will help: Chinese wedding dresses for the ceremony and the bridal party, and Chinese New Year dresses for the Spring Festival.