For visitors from abroad

Manners and customs

Chinese people are patient with foreigners and nobody expects you to know the rules. Still, a few habits earn real goodwill, and a few topics are best left alone.

Checked 2026-11-01. Rules change often; confirm anything that matters with an official source before you travel.

Everyday manners

  • Greet with 你好 (nǐ hǎo) and a nod; handshakes are common in business, hugs are not.
  • Use both hands to give or receive a business card, a gift or a passport at a hotel desk.
  • Receive a pouring of tea by tapping two fingers on the table, a thank you that lets conversation continue.
  • Never stick chopsticks upright in rice (a funeral image), do not point with them, and use the serving chopsticks or the reverse end for shared dishes.
  • Let the host or the oldest person start eating and sit first. Toasts (干杯, gān bēi) are frequent; clink lower than your elder's glass.
  • Queueing is now normal in cities, metro doors and ticket windows; elsewhere, a polite firmness holds your place.
  • Noise levels in restaurants are high and a loud voice is not rude. Public arguments and losing your temper, however, cost face for everyone.

Gifts and hospitality

  • If invited to a home, bring fruit, tea or sweets from your country. Avoid clocks, umbrellas and sets of four, which sound like words for death and separation; red or gold wrapping is good, white is for funerals.
  • Hosts will refuse a gift once or twice before accepting; offer it three times.
  • A host who insists on paying for dinner is sincere. Offer once, then thank them and plan to return the favour.

Topics and photos

  • Politics, Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang and the Communist Party are not conversation starters with people you have just met. If they raise them, listen more than you speak.
  • Asking someone's age, salary or marital status is normal small talk here, not rude.
  • Ask before photographing monks, worshippers and people in traditional dress; most will agree and may ask for a photo with you in return.
  • Temples: remove hats, do not step on the raised threshold, walk clockwise around stupas and prayer wheels, no photographs of statues where signs forbid it.

Face and saying no

Face (面子, miàn zi) is the social credit everyone carries. A direct no, public criticism or making someone admit a mistake costs face. 'Maybe', 'that could be difficult' or a change of subject often means no; take the hint and offer an alternative. When something goes wrong at a hotel, a calm 麻烦你 (má fan nǐ, sorry to trouble you) and a smile fix more than raised voices.

Common questions

Will people stare or ask for photos?

In small towns and rural areas, yes, out of curiosity rather than hostility, and children may practise their English on you. In the big cities nobody notices you.

Is it rude to refuse food or drink?

Refusing a toast is fine if you say you do not drink and touch the glass to your lips. Refusing food once is polite; the host will insist, and a small taste satisfies everyone.