1. 流行 liúxíng

The generic word for “popular”. Can be used in almost any context when talking about things – 流行音乐 (“popular music”), 流行设计 (“popular designs”), 流行游戏 (“popular games”), etc. It can’t describe people though.

2. 受欢迎 shòu huānyíng

Another common expression for “popular”, literally “received popularity”. The phrase 倍受欢迎 bèishòuhuānyíng – “enjoy great popularity” – is also common. Note that this word can refer to people, unlike 流行 liúxíng.

3. 走红 zǒuhóng

Literally, “walk [through] red”, this colloquial adjective commonly describes popular people, or “favourites” of superiors. Can also be abbreviated as just 红 hóng.

4. 火 huǒ

Another popular and extremely flexible colloquialism for popular. Literally, “fire”. Here’s an example sentence: 他的商店最近很火。— His shop has been popular as of late.

5. 时兴 shíxīng

Yet another colloquial word for “popular”, commonly used in Northern China. An example of usage: 现在这早就不时兴了。 — This has not been popular for a while.

6. 吃香 chīxiāng

This “popular” adjective most commonly collocates with professions and institutions, e.g. 这个行业比较吃香。— This profession is relatively popular.

7. 通俗 tōngsú

Usually restricted as an attributive in such collocations as 通俗小说 tōngsú xiǎoshuō (“popular fiction”) and 通俗文学 tōngsú wénxué (“popular literature”).

8. 盛传 shèngchuán

Relatively formal, 盛传 shèngchuán acts as a verb (“to make widely known”) and often collocates with certain media like articles, songs, etc, e.g. 最近网上盛传一首歌… This is literally parsed as, “Recently the Internet has made a song widely popular” – in idiomatic English, “A song has recently gained popularity on the Internet.”