Giving Gifts in China: What to Give, What to Avoid, and How It Works

Chinese gift-giving has clear conventions. Occasions: Chinese New Year (red envelopes with cash for children and employees, food and tea between adults); Mid-Autumn Festival (mooncake tins between businesses and families); weddings (cash in red envelopes, minimum ¥300–500 per person in major cities); hospital visits (fruit, never clocks); first business meetings (food specialty from your home region); home visits (tea, fruit, baijiu, or wine).

Safe gifts: quality loose-leaf tea, regional food specialties, Moutai or Wuliangye baijiu for older male hosts, wine for younger internationally-connected hosts, elegantly packaged fruit.

Avoid: clocks (送钟 sounds like attending to the dying), pears (sounds like parting), green hats (infidelity implication), umbrellas (sounds like scatter/break up), sets of four.

Presentation: use both hands; do not insist on a gift being opened in front of you; wrap in red or gold; avoid white or black. Cash in red envelopes: ¥888, ¥1,888, and ¥2,000 are common wedding amounts.