Lexielou

My husband is traveling to China on business.He is prepared to dress in a formal business attire. I am accompanying him. Sometimes I will be with him in a business setting. Sometimes I will be sightseeing on my own. Should I be wearing skirts and blouses/ sweaters, blazers or should I wear jeans or dress slacks? If we go to dinner to the home of a Chinese colleague, what should I wear?
Lexielou

luckykat

It is most likely going to be COLD! For sight seeing, I think a pair of jeans would be fine but make sure you have a good warm coat, hat, scarf and gloves. I just wore jeans around.

If dining with a collegue of your husband, I think you should probably dress in the way you ordinarily would for a collegue at home? I don't think you need to be very formal but I would say have something reasonably dressy to show up demonstrating that you respect them and their home enough to make an effort.

If you eat at their home, be sure to leave a little something left on your plate to show that you have been fed so well that would couldn't eat another bite.

Here's a list of Beijing restaurants you might enjoy as well. I ate at all of these and thought they were definitely worth reviewing.

http://www.lostmyguidebook.com/category/china

I highly recommend the Red Capital Club for a unique evening out!

Lexielou

Thank you. Your help is very much appreciated

Cicerone

When you are on your own, jeans are no problem at all when sightseeing and in anything but a really formal restaurant (and there are not many of those). Dress is fairly casual in China esp in tourist destinations. I agree March will be most likely be quite cold. If you have a fur it would not be out of place in Beijing.

If you get invited to the home of a colleauge that would be a rare invite, indeed. I never havein more than 10 years of doing buiness in the PRC and living in Singapore and Hong Kong, dinners are typically in restaurants. (I believe it is a face issue.) You probably should dress up a bit, as the business colleauges will most likely be wearing suits, or at least dress shirts and pants. Dress slacks for you would be fine.

Shanghainese

Wear warm boots, your feet get so cold.

weiwei22

please, don't leave anything on your plate, that is such a hackneyed misunderstanding... you will be encouraged to eat till you explode regardless what you are trying to express. and it is not a face thing with going to restaurants... it's a lazy thing. it is so much easier to eat out and not much more expensive either that most of us Chinese families have even stopped making traditional family meals such as Chinese new year's dinner!
I agree if you are being invited to someone's home that is indeed a special thing because it is so much more effort for the hosts. I would just dress nicely and maybe bring a small gift such as some american magazines/books.

Wear your full winter gear for March in Beijing. Last April I was still in my fox. Though do layer because March you will start to get some freak warm days here and there. Don't bring too much clothes though because you will be shopping a LOT. hey here's an idea, you should buy a Chinese jacket from Yashow market to wear to your chinese family dinner, that would tickle them.

wanderlust5

Absolutely take silk long underwear and I even packed a down coat, and was with 15 other people on a trip. Half of them didn't take down coats and half of them ran out and BOUGHT down coats in Beijing because we were all freezing. Also, I just bought at HOme Depot, 2 for 99 cents, these things that are gauranteed hand warmers. They are supposed to last for 10 hours. We are going to Bhutan in November and after our China experience I wanted something to keep my hands warm. They are little and flat and don't take up much room. You might consider throwing a few of those in. I also took ear muffs.

I don't know how they built the wall. Considering when it was built and the lack of technology, they were hearty people. It was so cold on the wall when we visited, I thought I would die.

Shanghainese

The great wall was built with tears and blood, thousands and thousands of poor workers died under inhumane conditions. There was no machinery in those days so all the stones were carried up the mountains by mules and donkeys, loaded/unloaded by the workers. Folklore claims their skeletons are under the walls.

JudySue

Has anyone visited China during May and can give me an idea of what the weather will be like?\Thanks.

rkkwan

JudySue - China is a huge country, with wide climate differences. You can find the average temp and precipitation of the cities you're going on sites like weather.com.

In genearl, May is mild in most areas. One of the better times to go to China. However, first week is May holiday where it may seem like all 1.3 billion people are traveling.