Gift Giving
It's traditional to bring a gift when invited to someone's home. Usually fresh flowers or fruit are your best bet (the number eight is considered lucky, so eight apples or eight oranges is a good idea) or, of course, anything from home. The more expensive the gift, the more respectful, but don't go over the top or you'll embarrass your hosts, who may feel the need to bankrupt themselves to return your generosity. Don't be surprised when, if your gift is wrapped, it is placed somewhere prominent all evening and not unwrapped until after you leave (your hosts might look greedy and ungrateful if the gift were opened too hastily and in front of you). It is also courteous to bring something back from traveling—just a token gift is fine. But be sure to be fair with your gift-giving: don't give something nicer to the secretary in the office than to the dean of the college, and don't give gifts to one group of students and not another—they'll find out, you can bet on it. Often, it's better to give something that can be shared, like food.
Business Cards
It's a good idea to have these made up for yourself as soon as you have an address; it's cheap and easy to do almost everywhere in China. Get a friend to give you a Chinese name, and get your name and address printed in Chinese on one side, English on the other (double-check the English spellings—there are almost always errors!). Get a lot made, as everyone will want one. Use both hands to give and accept business cards to show respect.
Guanxi (Connection or Relationship)
Guanxi is extremely important in China. We have the same thing in the West: you're looking for a job and so you write letters to some alumni from the university you went to, or your parents might call up an old friend; you use your guanxi, or contacts, to help you. In China, however, guanxi goes way beyond a simple means of aiding you in a job search; it is a way of life, and everyone uses it and depends upon it to get anything they need or want. So you're considering going to graduate school? Well, then, you'd better start buttering up the dean of the department you'd like to enter. Hopefully, you have enough money to buy him gifts of foreign cigarettes, imported fruit, or maybe a bottle of expensive brandy, because otherwise your chances are very slim. This system of using guanxi is apparent in all aspects of life in China, from buying hard-to-come-by train tickets, to obtaining a foreign exit visa. Don't necessarily think of it as bribery or corruption or you'll go insane—you might look at it as admitting the reality of how the system works, especially in a country of such an impossibly dense population. Be aware that the system of guanxi is the way to get by in China and you're not going to change that alone.
Face
As in most Asian countries, face is a very important and complex feature of daily life. We may call it "pride" in the West, but we don't have as developed a sense of the absolute necessity of "saving face" as in the East. In China, you will encounter this idea of "saving face" as well as having to "give face," on multiple levels. Maybe in the classroom the student in the back row who knows the answer to your question won't answer because she doesn't want her classmates to feel stupid. Maybe when you asked that old man how to get to the museum he just pointed to the left because he was too embarrassed to admit that he had no idea where it really was. Maybe the official at the Public Security Bureau won't extend your visa because you lost your temper in front of him and his colleagues, and if he granted your request now it would look as if he'd given in to your threats. Be aware of face and its importance to the Chinese. In general, as a foreigner to whom face means comparatively little, you can afford to lose face more than the Chinese, so you can use this to your advantage. Try to give face as often as possible—it will be appreciated.
Smoking
Men in China smoke. Period. Smoking is good for business; how better to break the ice and establish common ground upon which to build a relationship than to exchange cigarettes? Women do not smoke; it is bad for them. Don't ask why smoking is good for men and bad for women, because in China it just IS, and if you want to start an anti-smoking or equal-smoking lobby on your own, good luck to you. If you are male, expect to be offered cigarettes as a preface to developing a friendly relationship. If you smoke, offer cigarettes yourself—doing so will endear you to your new Chinese friends; however, declining an offered cigarette isn't a big deal as long as you are gracious about it.
Banquets
If you're living in China you're bound to be invited to a banquet sooner or later , whether it is a welcome banquet, a goodbye banquet, a banquet to celebrate International Women's Day, a banquet to show off how rich you are in front of a foreigner, or for any semi-plausible excuse. It will probably start at 6pm and you shouldn't be late. Dress is casual as always in China, but try to look nice and don't wear shorts. Dishes will arrive in turn, starting with the lighter dishes and ending with the heavy, starchy dishes (rice, noodles, steamed buns) near 8pm. In between there will be much toasting and downing of beer or, if you're really unlucky, rice wine (otherwise known as jet fuel).
Sensitive Subjects
As in any other country, if, while conversing with a local, he or she suddenly clams up, changes the subject, or feigns incomprehension, you can bet you've stumbled onto a forbidden topic. Don't push the matter or you may cause trouble for your Chinese friend as well as for yourself. It's best not to initiate discussions of religion or politics in particular.
Festival Etiquette
Yuandan (New Year's Day): It is namely the first day of the first month of the Gregorian calendar every year. It is also called New Year's day but different from the Spring Festival. Spring festival is the tradition festival of China while Yuandan is the "New Year's day" that the whole world celebrates together. On the New Year's Day", the western people generally adopt the form of evening party while the Chinese people generally celebrate in the form of dining together and sending gifts.
Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) ：It is namely the first day of the first lunar month of every year. Spring Festival stands for a fresh start and new hope. It is the grandest and most magnificent festival in Chinese folk tradition. During past dynasties, all Chinese people, be they higher-ups or those of the lower classes, regarded the spring festival as a good day for happy event and reunion. When paying visits to relatives and friends during the spring festival, you may prepare a small gift. The Chinese people usually send food which contains the meaning of luck.
Lantern Festival: It is namely the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. On that day, people usually appreciate festive lanterns. Couples and lovers often say auspicious words such as "permanent reunion" and "never parting". In this way, they will receive the blessings of the god of lantern.
Tomb-sweeping Festival: It is half a month later than the vernal equinox of the lunar calendar of every year, generally April 5th or 6th of the Gregorian calendar. The Tomb-sweeping Festival is the day for people to sweep tombs and burn incense to honor the memory of the dead. The Chinese people will offer flowers to the tombs, and get rid of weeds and plant trees around the tombs as a memorial to the dead.
Dragon Boat (Duanwu) Festival: It is namely the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. It is also called Duanyang Festival and Double Fifth Festival. It is held mainly to honor the memory of Qu Yuan and also to "ward off evil". During the Duanwu Festival, if there are old people in the family, be sure to keep in mind that after rising up in morning you should immediately begin paying respect to the elders, and sending them zongzi (glutinous rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves) and noodles or a gift to wish them health and a long life.
Mid-autumn Festival: It is namely the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month of every year. It is the second largest festival besides the spring festival in Chinese folk society. The Mid-autumn Festival is a day for family reunion. The moon is extraordinarily bright on the Mid-autumn day. On a moonlit night, the whole family gathers together to eat moon cakes and to express feelings after a long parting. What a comfortable and peaceful sight it is!
Double Ninth Festival: It is namely the ninth day of the ninth lunar month of every year. It is a day for ascending a height and overlooking the distance. Now some cities have fixed the Double Ninth Festival as Elder Day.
Folk customs
"March Street" celebrated by the Bai people in Dali, Yunnan Province, is associated with the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy suppressing a devil to help the Bai people. It became traditional to burn incense and offer sacrifices to commemorate her virtues every year and the festival has become a major annual gathering for Bai commercial, cultural and sports activities.
The Water-Sprinkling Festival of the Dai ethnic group in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, is a lively occasion taking place in the spring. People chase and pour water (a symbol of good luck and happiness) over each other, among other activities such as dragon boat racing and peacock dance.
Lugu Lake between Sichuan and Yunnan provinces has become a tourist destination following the building of a new highway giving access to this area. The matriarchal society of the 30,000 local Mosuo people is noted for its "no marriage" traditions and is called the last women's kingdom on the earth. Mosuo women, local dugout canoes and undulating singing style are considered unique to Lugu Lake.