The Top 6 Gifts Sure To Please Your Chinese Family

[Randy W]

This is from one of our members, in the Huffington Post

 

Jocelyn - http://candleforlove.com/forums/user/1803-jocelyn/

 

Search for 'Jocelyn' to see some of her posts - http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?app=core&module=search&search_in=forums

 

Jocelyn's blog - Speaking of China - A blog about love, family and relationships in China

 

Jocelyn Eikenburg Writer and blogger at speakingofchina.com

 

The Top 6 Gifts Sure To Please Your Chinese Family

 

Buying gifts for someone else never ranked as one of my top 10 most fun things to do. Not even back in America, where I grew up.

 

But after moving to China and marrying a Chinese local, it became even more of a headache. After all, China is a country that takes gift giving seriously, complete with its own gift-giving customs and etiquette. Now I would have to navigate all of these cultural rules to buy for my family in China, the people I’d be seeing every single year

#6: Fine Teas

 

#5: Imported Wines

 

#4: Vitamins

Years ago, a neighbor in Hangzhou begged me to buy her Amway garlic supplements when I returned to the US. That’s when I first realized that vitamins – especially imported brands – could make terrific gifts for the family. Nowadays, there’s not a Chinese New Year that doesn’t go by without me handing out vitamin supplements to my family.

Again, foreign brands make the best impression. Even better, you can purchase many online in China — including Amway, Centrum and Swanson’s – along with the Chinese-language packaging that ensures your relatives won’t take the wrong dose. But if you have the chance to buy abroad, you’ll find better pricing and more options.

#3: Traditional Herbal Remedies

 

#2: Regional Specialty Foods

 

#1: Fruit Baskets

http://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/scalefit_820_noupscale/57ec8d9f1700002e00ac8056.jpg

 

Jocelyn Eikenburg Writer and blogger at speakingofchina.com

 

[Allon]

Good post. Giving gifts even to Chinese here is a challenge for me. I caught hell for some of the gifts I have given, even for where they were made, not what they were.

 

It seems round fruit is always a good thing. But not pears. The Chinese word for "pear" is a homonym for "death" the same as the number 4. Giving an umbrella is akin to the American Indian custom of giving a knife -- you are severing the relationship. (In Indian culture, if you pay for the knife with wampum or a coin, the "curse" is broken.) Never give a pear or an umbrella especailly to someone in the hospital. You are wishing death upon them.

 

Superstitious is not even the word.....

[jonathantwu]

The biggest taboo is clock. Never! It means you see them off to eternity slumber.