Gift-giving etiquette

✅ Updated May 2026

Gifts express respect and build guanxi, but the rules matter. Offer and receive gifts with both hands. Avoid clocks (送钟 sounds like attending a funeral), sharp objects (cutting the relationship), umbrellas (parting), white or black wrapping, and sets of four. Good choices: quality tea, fruit, alcohol, or a specialty from your home country, in red or gold wrapping. The recipient may politely refuse two or three times before accepting, and will usually open the gift later, not in front of you.