Mary

We are traveling to Beijing, Kunming & Lijiang in a month. My spouse is the Chair of an international organization that is holding their bi-annual conference there. Several Chinese have been very helpful organizing our trip and one woman there is a government representative to our organization. We think it may be polite to bring them each a gift from the US and would like to know if this is appropriate, and what would be recommended.

Thanks for any ideas and assistance.
Mary

Cicerone

A gift is certainly a nice thought, and almost anything would be welome. I would NOT give a clock or a watch, as this represents death (time ticking away). Good liquor of a quality brand is usually appreciated, the Chinese generally have no religious or other taboos about drinking. Anything that is particular to the US, some regional food item for instance (not fruit or vegetable as you probably can't bring that into the PRC) would be nice. Candy, chocolates preserves, etc. Key rings or something represenative of your city or region. If you can really spend money I will say that brand name things like Mont Blanc pens, Tiffany key chains would be very well received. However spending a lot of money is not necessary. Most everyone knows Yao Ming the basketball player, so a cap or T shirt from his team is another thought (and not expensive).

Finally, do not expect that the gift will be opened in your presence as this is not the Asian way. YOu will be thanked (maybe even quite mildly with a just a smile) and the gift will most likely be put aside. This is especially the case if they do not have a gift for you in return (as that is a bit of a loss of face for them). If they are familiar with Western custom, they may open it in front of you, but most likely they will not. If they give you a present, you are not expected to open it in front of them.

althom1122

I don't want to hijack this thread, but...
that is so interesting about it not being the Asian way to open a gift in front of the giver. My closest friend is a native Korean (immigrated to the US with her family at 16), and I've always noticed that she doesn't open gifts when I give them to her but, as you say, tends to thank me and put them aside. It never occurred to me that it might be a cultural difference. Thanks, Cicerone, for that insight!
Ok, back to the thread on what would make a good gift...

JannaG

Cicerone is right that clocks and watches should be avoided as gifts to the Chinese. But to my knowledge, the taboo is not primarily because it represents death in terms of time ticking away. But rather, the phrase "gifting (sung) a clock (chung)" is the homonym of the phrase "sending (sung) you off on your final (chung) journey", with "final journey" representing "death/funeral" of course.

The Chinese usually place a lot of emphasis on sounds of words and phrases...eg. "8" in Chinese sounds like "getting rich" and hence is a favoured number and "4" sounds like "die" and is usually avoided etc.

Didn't mean to vear off the tangent either but just thought someone may be interested in the alternate meaning to the taboo of gifting clocks to the Chinese.

Cheers.

kudzu

I also learned that giving an unbrella is not good. Don't know exactly why, though. I took an umbrella as a gift one time, one that had a flashlight built into the handle at an angle so you can see your path ahead as you use it, thought it would be very useful as well as unique. Only after I gave it to my host did I learn umbrellas are also on the "not" list. Oh well, I'm only a barbarian Lao Wai!
K

kudzu

Make that uMbrella...

watakeet

JannaG is correct with regard to the taboo of giving a clock as gift. As for umbrellas, it's because just like windchime, it's supposed to attract spirits. spirits need to be sheltered against light and such, so umbrellas are their hiding places.

Mary

Interesting comments about the taboos of various gifts. I'm not sure that liquor would work what with today's flying limitations. It may be hard to find something that isn't made in China! I had a friend to dinner tonight that has a lot a experience traveling there and she says that "it's the thought that counts" but be sure to consider their status. So we shouldn't buy the same thing for everyone from the head of the company to the secretary (for example).

Thanks for all the good advice!

Cicerone

If you are stopping en route in Hong Kong or Tokyo you can buy liquor there (not sure about prices in Tokyo) as there are (currently) no carry on restrictions on liquids flights once you leave the US (or the UK).

You can actually pack bottles very easily in a suitcase, not that I am encouraging you to bring alcohol, but lots of people here bring back wine from Europe and the US in suitcases packed in bubble wrap and clothes. (Wine is pretty expensive here and you are only allowed 1 litre duty free so many people smuggle it in.) I mention this because I see from other posts that you are from San Fran so CA wine might be a good gift as that would be hard to find in China, is not made in China, and would be expensive if you could find it in China.

Good suggestion about the rank and the gift, I did not realize you were giving to a group, I thought this was a gift to different people in each place.

Pepeoz

I have travelled many times to China on business & as tourist and found that "Commemorative Coin" sets & Postage stamp sets of my home country ( Australia ) were very much appreciated. Also not difficult to pack.To the recipient usually of increasing value over time.

W9London

The reason for not opening the gift at the spot is that it makes the receive look "greedy" or "impatient".
I brought a lovely coffee table book on one occasion, only to find out that the book was printed in China, but our acquaintances very much liked the book.

Another thought... Is it more personal or office kinds of gifts/Will you have multiple hosts? If so, I'm more inclined to bring a large and nice box of chocolate (eg Godiva) where the contents can be shared in the office.

As for liquor, it really depends on what your hosts would like. Whisky is always a good one, wine slightly less popular.

kevinsu

JannaG is correct - the taboo of giving clocks as gifts arises out of the homonym.

For this reason, watches are OK, as the word of "watch" is different than "clock" in Chinese. I've given and received watches as gifts. I am from Taiwan, so I don't know if there is a different custom in China, but there could be.

Umbrellas, shoes, handkerchiefs are generally taboo as well.