Archive January 13, 2020

Just as western countries, in China, if you want to visit somebody, you should make an appointment to make sure the time, the place and the number of people. In generally, the place is also determined by the host because china has a proverb: guest follows the host and show respect to host. But long time ago, people don’t make a notice or appointment in China, and if the host is not at home, he even should apologize to the guest. In a formal occasion, you’d better don’t let your children with you, maybe you can leave them at home. And also, the time you choose should be acceptable, and try your best to avoid the rest time or eating time. In America, Britain and other western countries, if you want to visit someone you should explain the purpose the time and the place. And after both sides agree, the appointment can be called successfully. And in most western countries, there are many ways to make an appointment, such as writing a letter, making a call or sending an email. If you don’t make an appointment before you visiting someone, there will lead to two results:

First, the host may receive you. It is the best result. In this situation, the visitor can’t stay too long; they should go home as soon as they finish the important thing. Second, the host may have something important to deal with, and he hasn’t time to welcome you. In this situation, you should be polite and hold a tactful tone.

Chinese has the tradition of hospitality and politeness. When the guest comes, whatever he or she is individual guest or not, the whole family will come out and make greeting to the guest. But there is an order, from older to younger. After the guest came home, hosts should find a sit to let the guest sit down, and then offered tea and cigarette. As we all know, drinking tea with guest is china’s traditional custom, but the host also offering all kinds of fruits to the guest. At this time, the guest should say some words to refuse such as “I don’t need it”, “it troubles you too much”. It is quite different in west in terms to welcoming the guest. When the host opens the door, he often says: “hello, glad to see you. Please come in.” When the guest comes in the house, he should take off the coat. At this time, the host should say: “shall I take your coat?” And if you ware a hat, you should take off it when you come in the house. After you sat, the host may ask you what kind of drinks do you want to have, and the guest often tell the host what he really want to have rather than refusing. You shouldn’t smoke if you don’t get the permit ion of the host in Western visit because it makes the host think you are impolite.

When the visiting comes to the end, the guest should make a farewell to the host. According to the British and American’s customs, the guest often says some words to suggest that he want to leave, such as:” I’ve got to be going now.” or “I’m afraid I must be going now.” At that time, the host will say: “can you stay any longer?” or “must you? It’s still early.” When the host persuades the visitor to stay again and again but the visitor insists on leaving, maybe the visitor really wants to leave. In this moment, the host should to see the visitor out. While in China, when the guest says that he must go, he would take actions right now unless the host said “don’t go” again and again. If the guest insists to go, the host can stand up after the guest stands up and persuade the guest to stay longer. If the guest sends you gifts, you should also send some small delicate gifts to him as a reward, and this custom both exists in west and China.

“A holiday of a nation represents a glorious culture and concentrated customs of a nation.” To understand a nation’s cultural implications and its cultural characteristics, we must start with its traditional festivals. There exists great difference between Chinese and Western festivals due to their different languages, education, life styles and customs. The differences in their origin and shaping, celebration, food, banquet manners, color of festive dressing and the attitudes of accepting presents  contribute to the great differences of Chinese and Western festive cultures.

Western traditional festivals emphasize on interactivity, collectivity and extreme carnival, focusing on self and advocating free expressing of personality. While in China, we focus on family reunion and enjoy happy family relations. Here we set two examples as follows.

Spring Festival Vs New Year

In western nations, the New Year’s Day falls on January 1st in Gregorian calendar. On the night of December 31, particularly close to the late zero o’clock, tens of thousands of people gather in to pray sincerely and silently for the coming year’s countdown. When the bell sounds 12, suddenly, the beautiful music sound, people are singing happily and talking cheerfully, playing all night long. In China, the Spring Festival falls on January 1st in lunar calendar since Qin Dynasty. On the eve of Spring Festival, we get together to enjoy delicious food and cuisine, staying up for the coming New Year to bid farewell to the old year. The whole family will spend a beautiful night in the sound of firecrackers. The Spring Festival lasts until Lantern Festival. Spring cleaning, New Year gathering, firecrackers, lion dance are the popular customs during Spring Festival. Each of the two festivals has its strong points: The western New Year embodies fashion trend and modern life. While Chinese people attach great importance to dense national culture and traditional atmosphere to the Spring Festival; it has the glorious history and the unique beauty.

Qingming Festival Vs Halloween Day

In China, April in the lunar year is an important month for ghosts. In this month, the souls will be released from the Hades, and people will be organized to hold activities to entertain them with their hospitality for this rare “holidays”. Particularly on April 4th, Qingming festival, every family will prepare for rich offerings to sacrifice these good brothers who come from the nether world. There’re many other activities during the Qingming Festival, such as visiting their ancestors’ tombs, spring hiking and planting osier. Osier means indomitable vitality and can ward off bad luck at the same time. Visiting ancestors’ tombs in Qingming Festival can not only show their respect, what’s more, it shows people’s enthusiasm for life.

In the west, the similar festival is called Halloween day(Oct.11-Nov.7th). It is the third important festival next to Christmas and Thanksgiving Day. It is said that people should let the ghost see their satisfactory harvest and present abundant sacrifice to them. Both the bonfires and lights are not only to scare the ghosts away, but also to illuminate them back to the place where they come from. On this day, people can disguise themselves freely and make trouble to their heart’s content. On many public occasions and home compound, people lay out different kinds of decorations on the windows and doors, such as pumpkin lights, a scarecrow and even the skeleton. Every family will hold a dressing ball, and put on fruit and other crops on the table.

Traveling in China is an experience you won’t soon forget. Of course, you can also buy more souvenirs to make the experience fresh in your mind. But what do you do when your eye for a bargain is out of reach for your luggage? This article will help you decide how to transfer all your Chinese memories home in the simplest and most economical way.

Generally speaking, most international airlines have a 50-pound weight limit for checked baggage (23 kilograms in economy class).

Travelers should buy a mini scale or check to see if your hotel offers a weighing service to make sure your weight is within limits. If you find that your luggage exceeds the limit set by the airline, you can choose to check more than one bag.

If you plan to check in a second (or more) bag, you may have to pay between $35 and $100, depending on your flight, airline and other factors.

For example, the excess baggage charge is usually 1.5% of the economy fare per kilogram. You also run the risk of breaking fragile items on your flight.

While there are ways to ensure and protect your luggage, some items may be irreplaceable. If you think that excess baggage can be a problem for you when you get home, you’d better read through the basics to help you plan your strategy.

Passengers are also encouraged to familiarize themselves with Chinese customs regulations to avoid unfortunate incidents at airports.

There are several ways to check excess baggage home. While these options can be expensive, they are often touted as the safest and most reliable way to move your important projects.

China post is considered the most cost-effective and streamlined mode of transportation.China post is the official postal agency in China. Like the U.S. postal service, they ship both domestically and internationally. You’ll want to browse their website to learn the rules and fees that apply to your unique situation. They provide air and surface transportation.

Air freight is the fastest and usually takes 7 to 15 working days, depending on the final destination and size. The Surface is a cheaper, slightly slower option. For international transport, this means that your packages will be shipped by sea and may take 40 to 70 working days to arrive.

China post’s parcels are divided into small parcels and large parcels. Small packages are suitable for goods weighing less than 4.4 LBS (2 kg). A large package can weigh up to 66 pounds (30 kilograms).right now unless the host said “don’t go” again and again. If the guest insists to go, the host can stand up after the guest stands up and persuade the guest to stay longer. If the guest sends you gifts, you should also send some small delicate gifts to him as a reward, and this custom both exists in west and China.

Since different countries have different histories and cultures, there are a lot of differences in the habit of conducts and the ceremony, especially between China and the West, the jokes and the mistakes caused by misunderstanding is not unusual. This shows that the understanding of the different etiquettes between Chinese and  the Westerners is absolutely necessary. In the office, to understand each other’s customer will be conductive to the exchanges between the countries. A person who understands others’ rituals and folk customs can be seen as respecting for others and can be easier to make a good impression on the other side. Along with the constant development of Chinese culture and the Western culture, Chinese ritual and the Western ritual are fusions. The Westerners have accepted the reasonable factors in Chinese culture and other important feelings. Chinese people have gradually accepted the advanced civilization of the Western culture and etiquette style. However, in real life, the etiquette’s impact due to cultural differences between China and the West still exists. The paper explores the differences between Chinese etiquette and the Western etiquette to make Chinese communicate with the Westerners more easily.

The Impact of Different Modes of Social Interaction on Etiquette Chinese cultures and the Western cultures have attached great importance to interpersonal relationship. However, they were clearly different in exchanging ideas. Chinese are very warm and hospitable, which contained in relationships, being notseemed to be preserved. It is granted to understand the age, occupation, income, marital status, children and other issues with each other. The Westerners will generally not do like that. Chinese will ask the price of goods which is bought by others directly. In the eyes of Chinese people, the price is only for items or rank. It is said the quality of goods. In Westerners’ eyes, if you do the same thing, it may be regarded as the inquiry of other’s economic conditions. It is also the privacy of the Westerners which should not be asked directly. If you want to know the price in details, you can only tactfully praise the achievement of the goods. Under such circumstances, the Westerners will tell you if it is cheap or expensive in general, but they normally do not tell you the price. Chinese prefer to ask “where are you going?” when they meet others. This is just a form of calling in China. And if it happens in the United States, it might make the other feel embarrassed, because it belongs to other’s privacy you should not interfere in. In addition, the distance of the interaction between people can be divided into four types. There are close distance, individual distance, social distance and public distance. Chinese people’s kind relatively belongs to close distance. We often see two Chinese girls walking on the street arm-in-arm which is rare to see in the West. The Westerners think that the Chinese are too close. On the contrary, the Chinese feel that the Westerners are very cold, arrogant, distant with others, and unfriendly. If Chinese people find that there is a thrum in other’s clothes, they will naturally pick it off. It is a bad behavior in the eyes of the Westerners. When Chinese meet a friend who wears very pretty clothes, he will stroke the clothes before asking price or texture. The Westerners will not do like that but directly praise his friends and his beautiful clothes.