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Thread: Gift giving in China

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[quote=TOMSPENCER,266003]Red is a very auspiscious colour in China, and the number 8 is they luckiest of numbers. Depending on which part of the country you're in, receiving as a gift either a cat or a dog (more commonly a cat) is considered unlucky. If a cat is given as a gift then the recipient will typically offer a token sum of money in exchange - this way he or she is buying the cat, rather than being given it (thus averting bad luck).

Wedding gifts ought always to be pairs of things, never single items. Jade is very precious in China, and gold remains ever popular (though younger Chinese prefer white gold to the more traditional variety). Around the Spring Festival, small orange trees seem remarkably popular, but oranges are always a popular gift when visiting someone's home. As the original poster mentioned, avoid pears.

tigerpaul - right on the money with distinct, personal gifts from your home country. Chinese people love to receive things from overseas. If a Chinese person goes on a foreign holiday then they simply must bring back samples of the local food. Similarly, the gifts most highly prized from foreign friends are those from that person's home country that cannot be (easily) found in China. The trouble I found when shopping for typically British gifts in London was that just about everything seemed to have been made in China...

Whisky is a safe bet. Spelled without an 'e', whisky is produced only in Scotland and will be highly valued in China (especially by the man of the house). Cakes and biscuits are trickier because Chinese tastes (especially amongst older Chinese people) are markedly different from western tastes. I know plenty of Chinese people who have been given tins of biscuits by visiting friends, have tried one or two, then just allowed the tin to gather dust.[/quote]

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