In Chinese culture how common is it to regularly say "I love you"?

Yes, the first three characters are I love you in simplified Chinese.

The middle one is LOVE.

http://www.quora.com/Chinese-Culture/In-Chinese-culture-how-common-is-it-to-regularly-say-I-love-youAnswers again.

It is obvious that we don't use "I love you" often.

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To parents

I admit that I've never said "I love you" in person to my parents. 

I said in texts, letters many times but never in person.

And it is quite interesting that many people they will say "I love you" in front of television cameras

.I mean when they have chances to attend some games or competitions, when they leave, they will always say thank you and "I love you" to their families. 

Most of them will say "it is my first time to say it to my family."

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To children

I asked several friends if their parents had ever said "I love you" to them. You may can imagine the answers.Most of them said no and some said through text messages. 

It may be the easiest way to say "I love you" when singing songs. Most of the songs are about love.

Teresa Teng, famous Taiwanese singer

Back to the late 1970s, when Teresa Teng's songs began to be known in mainland China, some of them were banned and regarded as decadent by the government. 

After the ten years' tumultuous Cultural Revolution, people were deeply shocked and touched by the beautiful songs.So Teresa Teng's songs spread nationwide.

People began to sing "love songs" and more open to say "I love you" after that.

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To friends.

It is much easier to say "I love you" to my friends. Female friends in most conditions.

It is a good way to express your friendships!

But we are not as crazy as people in American movies, saying "I love you" all the time. 

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To your sweetheart.

Well, this one really depends.

There's two types of complains girls have about their boyfriends.1) My boyfriend is sooo cold and unromantic! He never says "I love you" to me!! 2) My boyfriend has a glib tongue. He always says "I love you" to me! I'm not sure if I should believe him!So you can see that it is quite difficult to be a boyfriend in China. 

Just remembered a scene in a movie randomly and it was a good example for boys.

Woman: Hey, why you don't say I love you to me?

Man: I said it when we get married. If I changed, I would let you know.

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So in Chinese culture it can never be common to regularly say "I love you."

And an interesting thing is that it can be much easier to say "I love you" in other languages than in Chinese for us!

When I say "I love you" in other languages, I feel like it is not really serious thing. 

But when in Chinese, it should be super serious, at least for me!

When you watch a Chinese movie and the characters keep saying "I love you", it is just movies.

I would be paralyzed by fear if my parents keep saying "I love you" to me.