Chinese Dos and donts

Smiling Respect the Elders Greet the eldest person Touch your glass below that of the eldest person in the group. Be punctual. (Respect)

About Gifts Presenting gifts Refusing/accepting gifts If you give an unlucky gift accidentally…

Remove your shoes when entering a Chinese home. Accept what your host offers and orders. Eat all of the rice in your bowl (luck)

No. 4(Death) – Fourth floor Be cautious in political discussions. Tipping customs in China It's okay to spit in public and blow your nose.

Colors Red – luck – end of a relationship Pink and yellow – happiness White, grey and black - funeral colors. 

If you eat all of your meal… Shopkeepers – book – lose

New Year “Break, Spoil, Die, Gone, Poor” Nothing should be cut during Chinese New Year as one’s life could be cut short. Avoiding sharp objects

Open windows and doors Whatever you do during New Year, follows you. Washing hair - unlucky

If you want someone to come to you, don’t wave them over with an upturned finger When using a toothpick in public, cover your mouth with your hand. Do not touch someone’s head (it’s sacred)

Be careful while judging Mao, huge numbers still follow his ideas. Do not be interested in an object that someone has, they may insist on giving that to you

When someone gives a business card to you, do not stick it in your hip pocket. Also, don’t stick it in your wallet and then put your wallet in your hip pocket. You would be symbolically stating that you want to sit on them! Putting a business card in your wallet and them placing the wallet in a front pocket is no problem

After eating a meal, never leave your chopsticks sticking up in the left-over rice at the bottom of your bowl. This is what people do at shrines when offering a meal to their ancestors' ghosts. Doing it in a restaurant would be a terrible curse on the proprietor.

When you're just getting to know someone, and it begins to rain but they don't have an umbrella, it’s bad luck to give them an umbrella to go home with – a sure omen that you’ll never see each other again.( the Chinese word for umbrella-san-sounds like the word for “to break apart”.) This is particularly important for dating couples the first few times they go out together. If you like our new friend, take the time to escort him or her with the umbrella out to the bus stop or taxi.

Do not open the presents in front of them Do not give these as a present: Clocks (giving a watch is okay) Straw sandals Handkerchiefs (They are associated with death)

http://www.yitseng.net/chinese%20dimensions/topics/tabo o.html http://www.lonelyplanet.com/china/travel-tips-and- articles/1252##ixzz1t9k6nOZO http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004- 01/07/content_296507.htm http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archives/20080829_dos_an d_donts_for_foriengers_in_china.htm http://traditions.cultural- china.com/en/14Traditions5519.html http://chineseculture.about.com/od/chinesefestivals/a/Chin ese-Taboo.htm http://voices.yahoo.com/social-taboos-common-customs- china-information-1476707.html