It's Chinese New Year. Join in the celebrations with fireworks and feasting to welcome in the year of the Pig.
Gift Giving Tips
What Makes a Great Gift
You should always remember that your gift is a token of the strength of your relationship, so it should be thoughtful rather than expensive or valuable.
You might find these tips useful when buying gifts:
1. The gift should be of good quality. Don’t think that expensive and luxurious things make the best gifts. The truth is that the most valuable characteristics of a great gift are fine materials, original design and exquisite handiwork.
2. Consider local specialties. It probably originates from the period when China wasn’t as open as nowadays, but Chinese people highly appreciate authentic regional items that are difficult to find. Get something that local area is famous for.
3. Don’t dismiss confectionary. Many sweet treats, such as chocolates, sweets, dried fruits, and cakes are traditional Chinese gifts that are believed to bring good fortune. So it’s almost impossible to go wrong with specialty chocolates!
4. Presentation is as important. Remember that colors play a huge role in Chinese culture. The go-to combo is red and gold, so wrap up your gift in plain or multi-color red paper and add fancy gold ribbon.
Of course, more informal gifts don’t necessarily need to match all these tips but they give a better understanding of what particular features of a gift are appreciated among the Chinese community.
You might find helpful these traditional gift ideas that will for sure surprise your Chinese friend:
1. Gourmet Chocolates
Who wouldn’t love to receive a sweet gift? There’s in a chocolatier in San Francisco, Jade Chocolates, that creates premium chocolates blended with various Chinese ingredients like lapsang souchong tea or roasted brown rice.
2. Fine Red Wine
Wine symbolizes a toast to the giftee’s health, and red is a symbol of luck. So a bottle of quality red wine is a perfect choice! Local stores usually provide a good range of premium wines to choose from.
3. Quality Tea
Having a prominent place in Chinese culture, tea is a popular and beloved drink in China. San Francisco’s Red Blossom Tea Company offers a broad range of original high-quality teas imported directly from China.
Common Taboos
When picking a gift for your Chinese friend, you have to be aware of basic superstitions and taboos and make sure that your gift doesn’t match any of them.
1. In Chinese culture, the number 4 is always avoided because it sounds similar to the word ‘death’. Odd numbers are considered less lucky than even.
2. A combination of white and black is a strict taboo because these colors are associated with funerals and thus with death. If you decide to write a gift card, avoid red ink as well.
3. Sharp objects, clocks, umbrellas, shoes, pears, cut flowers, and mirrors should be avoided. Connoting death, parting and bad luck, such gifts aren’t welcomed among the Chinese community.
4. Green hats are a no-no. It may seem ridiculous because it’s difficult to imagine a situation where you give someone a green hat, but anyway. The thing is that a long time ago a green hat used to be worn by cuckolds.
Gift giving is always a challenge, especially when it includes a cultural element to be considered. Stick to these tips, strictly if you are picking a gift for a traditional person, and more subtly for a contemporary person, and your gift will for sure brighten up their holidays!