In daily life, interpersonal communication is a science. The most important thing in interpersonal communication is to give gifts to each other. China has a gift giving culture of thousands of years. Gifts are needed in many scenes, including gifts for friends’ birthday, company opening, housewarming, children’s school entrance examination and Chinese New Year’s festival.
If you want to send gift to china, it is important to know the etiquette of Chinese gifts. The choice of gifts is very important. If you give them well, the recipient will be happy. If you don’t give them well, it will not only be embarrassing, but also make others think you don’t pay attention. So what should we consider when buying gifts? Let me tell you.
- Avoid gifts that are too cheap or expensive
In Chinese culture, you need to carefully select a gift that suits the recipient’s financial situation. This means that your gift should not be too expensive or too cheap. A gift that is too expensive is inappropriate. It can put some pressure on the recipient and put them in an uncomfortable position as they may not be able to reciprocate with another expensive gift. If your gift is too cheap, it will look like you are being stingy. Sometimes the monetary value of a gift can be more important than your thoughts. Gifts that are too cheap can often create a feeling of being unappreciated. When you have only an ordinary relationship with the recipient, try to choose gifts that are sophisticated and nice to look at.
- Consider the colour of your gift and wrapping paper
People from different countries have different preferences for colours. In Chinese culture, there are certain colours that possess a fixed symbolic meaning. It is advisable to avoid black and white, which often represent bad things in Chinese culture. In terms of colour choices, red (for good luck) and yellow (the traditional colour for the emperor) are good colours. Trust me, when it comes to colour choices, red is always the right one.
- Don’t open the gift in front of the giver
In Chinese culture, there is no habit of opening gifts immediately. Although it is no longer a very important issue in the younger generation, some Chinese still don’t like this behavior. So don’t be surprised if your Chinese friend doesn’t open it immediately when he receives your gift. In China, when you receive a gift, don’t open it immediately in front of everyone.
- Avoid certain gifts
Do not give umbrellas, knives, clocks, shoes or mirrors as gifts to your Chinese friends. These gifts have a bad meaning in the Chinese pronunciation. So, we are always right to give a bouquet of flowers to a Chinese friend, right? It is interesting to note that different flowers are used for different occasions. When you send flowers to China, try to avoid chrysanthemums. This is because chrysanthemums represent sacrifice in China.
In addition to the above-mentioned taboo items, you must also pay attention to the different gift-giving objects because the customs are different everywhere. Sending elders, peers, and juniors is actually different.
Give elders gifts to focus on practical, not too fashionable, and not too fancy, send a healthy may make them feel very happy. Sending peers is most taboo to be unequal, the other party to send you heavy gifts, you send a very casual will seem inappropriate. You can also send your most heartfelt wishes. When giving a gift to a younger generation, you can send practical and interesting ones according to their preferences.
