Chinese Customs
- Eating and Drinking
The Chinese are generous people and they are never tired of offering lunch/dinner to friends, local or foreign. If your Chinese friend offers to foot the bill, let them do so and say thank you. The Chinese also have the habit of ordering more food than needed as the way to show warmth and sincerity, which can be unusual in the eye of foreigners. The best thing to do is to eat, eat and eat!
- Shopping/Bargaining
When it comes shopping, there is plenty of air in the prices quoted to foreign tourists. You should bargain hard by giving no more than 10 percent of the asking price and do not increase it as eventually the seller will give in to you in a desperate attempt to shift their stuff!
- Spitting
The Chinese are massive fans of spitting anywhere and everywhere as they believe it is a hygienic thing to do, clearly more so than the Western tradition of blowing the nose and sticking the used tissue in the pocket! Everywhere you go in China, you cannot avoid the classic sounds of loosening throats, so just be prepared and watch where you are walking.
- Language
As most Chinese only know a few words in English and their pronunciation is notoriously hard to understand, it is recommended you learn a bit of Chinese before flying off to China. Buy a simple phrase book as it could be more than handy and try to learn as many basic words as you can before you arrive.
- Toilets
Some may find it a bit gross but as it’s quite a different culture over there, I reckon it’s worth mentioning how to use the loo once you arrive in China- you’re not supposed to flush the used tissue paper down the toilet, but instead you should put it in the provided basket. Apart from airports, there’s absolutely no tissue paper in public toilets, so do bring your very own.