最新The-diffrences-between-Chinese-visit--etiquette-and-western--visit-etiquette.doc

Four short words sum up what has lifted most successful individuals above the crowd: a little bit more.-author-dateThe-diffrences-between-Chinese-visit-etiquette-and-western-visit-etiquetteThe-diffrences-between-Chinese-visit-etiquette-and-western-visit-etiquette1. Background and significanceVisiting etiquette is one of the important etiquettes in our daily life, but because of the different cultures, Chinese visiting etiquette and Western visiting etiquette has some parent differences. If we want to communicate with each other easily, undoubtedly we should learn what the differences are and understand the differences between Chinese visiting etiquette and Western visiting etiquette to achieve the fusion of different countries or different nationality. Only in this way can we go to the new stage in communication and then improve the ability of the intercultural communication.2. Literature reviewOnce, a Chinese paper also discussed the same matter as me, it explored the visiting etiquette between China and West. The writer explored this etiquette though making an appointment, welcoming the guest and making a farewell. I want to make some differences from what he said in his paper, and I want to mention something which he didnt mentioned. In my paper, I will explore the visiting etiquette by making a comparison through four parts: making an appointment, welcoming the guest, sending gifs and making a farewell. 3. Characteristics3.1 The characteristic of Chinese visiting etiquetteOn the one hand, it is all known that dressing acts an important role in visiting etiquette, especially in china. When a person wants to visit someone, the first question in his mind is what clothes are most perfect or suitable. He will take a lot of time to choose the clothes they most like and even ask others to get some suggestions. The person, who is the host, also is troubled by the same question. He wants to show his hospitality to the guest, so the suitable cloth will make him seem polite to others, and also make the guest think they are respected by the host. So, the Chinese usually ignore the punctuality, they spend too much time in choosing the cloth. One the other hand, Chinese people always hold an attitude of humility and implicative. 3.2 The characteristic in Western visiting etiquetteAs we all know, the most apparent characteristic in western visiting etiquette is the time the guest come to the hosts home. In West, when you want to visit someone, you neednt go to his home too early because maybe the host is still preparing for something. If you come too early, it will show youre impolite to others. Also, you shouldnt be too late; it is a good way to show that you dont respect others. The best time you go to the hosts home is to be late for three to five minutes. Through the whole visiting, the Western people show us their forthright and frank rather than what the Chinese do. 4. The comparison between the Chinese visiting etiquette and Western visiting etiquette4.1 Making an appointmentJust as western countries, in China, if you want to visit somebody, you should make an appointment to make sure the time, the place and the number of people. In generally, the place is also determined by the host because china has a proverb: guest follows the host and show respect to host. But long time ago, people dont make a notice or appointment in China, and if the host is not at home, he even should apologize to the guest. In a formal occasion, youd better dont let your children with you, maybe you can leave them at home. And also, the time you choose should be acceptable, and try your best to avoid the rest time or eating time. In America, Britain and other western countries, if you want to visit someone you should explain the purpose the time and the place. And after both sides agree, the appointment can be called successfully. And in most western countries, there are many ways to make an appointment, such as writing a letter, making a call or sending an email. If you dont make an appointment before you visiting someone, there will lead to two results: First, the host may receive you. It is the best result. In this situation, the visitor cant stay too long; they should go home as soon as they finish the important thing. Second, the host may have something important to deal with, and he hasnt time to welcome you. In this situation, you should be polite and hold a tactful tone.4.2 Welcoming the guestChinese has the tradition of hospitality and politeness. When the guest comes, whatever he or she is individual guest or not, the whole family will come out and make greeting to the guest. But there is an order, from older to younger. After the guest came home, hosts should find a sit to let the guest sit down, and then offered tea and cigarette. As we all know, drinking tea with guest is chinas traditional custom, but the host also offering all kinds of fruits to the guest. At this time, the guest should say some words to refuse such as “I dont need it”, “it troubles you too much”. It is quite different in west in terms to welcoming the guest. When the host opens the door, he often says: “hello, glad to see you. Please come in.” When the guest comes in the house, he should take off the coat. At this time, the host should say: “shall I take your coat?” And if you ware a hat, you should take off it when you come in the house. After you sat, the host may ask you what kind of drinks do you want to have, and the guest often tell the host what he really want to have rather than refusing. You shouldnt smoke if you dont get the permit ion of the host in Western visit because it makes the host think you are impolite. 4.3 Sending giftsIt is very common to send a gift to the host when you visit him whether in west or in China, and they all think it is necessary, but there are still something different. Chinese always pay more attention to choose the gifts which have practical values, while the westerners tend to pay more attention to the memorial values. Exactly speaking, what Chinese send is a gift and what westerners send is a souvenir. In China, when the guest sends the gift to the host, he often says：“小意思，不成敬意。”or“东西不好，请笑纳”。 But in west, the visitor often says: “I hope you will like it!”, and when the host receives the gift, he can open it immediately, and he should say:” Oh, how nice! I like it very much. Thank you!”4.4 Making a farewell When the visiting comes to the end, the guest should make a farewell to the host. According to the British and Americans customs, the guest often says some words to suggest that he want to leave, such as:” Ive got to be going now.” or “Im afraid I must be going now.” At that time, the host will say: “can you stay any longer?” or “must you? Its still early.” When the host persuades the visitor to stay again and again but the visitor insists on leaving, maybe the visitor really wants to leave. In this moment, the host should to see the visitor out. While in China, when the guest says that he must go, he would take actions right now unless the host said “dont go” again and again. If the guest insists to go, the host can stand up after the guest stands up and persuade the guest to stay longer. If the guest sends you gifts, you should also send some small delicate gifts to him as a reward, and this custom both exists in west and China.ConclusionFrom the discussion above, we can see there are four main differences between Chinese visiting etiquette and western visiting etiquette. The first one is the difference in making an appointment. The second one is the different way to welcome the guest. The third one is the difference in sending a gift. Chinese attach importance to the practical values of the gift, but the westerners notice the memorial values. The last difference is the farewell between those two. In modern society, it seems that the world is getting smaller and smaller, but the differences in etiquette between china and west still exist. The paper explained the differences between Chinese visiting etiquette and western visiting etiquette in order to deepen peoples knowledge about Chinese culture and western culture. We should give up some customs which is forbidden in other countries and learn their customs to achieve harmony. And also we should receive other customs in a magnanimous way, try our best to respect each other and promote cultures communication. Though this way can we reach the fusion of various nationalities and make our world more harmonious.Bibliography1 贾玉新. 跨文化交际学M上海: 上海外语教育出版社, 2000.2 薛建红. 旅游服务礼仪M郑州: 郑州大学出版社, 2006.3 张丽娟. 现代社交礼仪M北京：清华大学出版社，2009.4 张常平. 师范生礼仪教程M江西: 江西高校出版社,2009.5 蒋艳萍. 东西方礼仪教育之比较J.湘潭大学学报(哲学社会科学版), 2006(9)6 NIPPON. The Land and Its People M.Tokyo; Gakusei-sha, 1982-