和老外交往容易犯的六个错误：送些什么

　　What to Take 送些什么

　　Make you aware of some Chinese conventions of bringing gifts and how these may differ from those of Westerners. 送礼不在多，而是要送到点子上。

　　Tony 受邀去他的中国同事家里玩。虽然玩得很尽兴，但他似乎有一点点不愉快。到底发生了什么事情？让我们来听听Tony 跟他的好友Bill说了些什么。

　　Bill: Hi Tony. How're you doing?

　　Tony: Fine. Just got back from visiting the home of one of my Chinese colleagues.

　　Bill: Oh, have a good time?

　　Tony: Oh yes, very good. Mind you, I was bit hurt about the way they treated my present. You see, I know they like Western music so I brought them back some of the latest tapes from the UK. Had them all wrapped up beautifully and gave them to them as soon as I got inside the door and what do you think happened?

　　Bill: What?

　　Tony: Nothing. Well, more or less. They said thank you but then just put them away in a corner. Didn't even bother to unwrap them. I must say I felt a bit miffed after all the trouble I'd taken.

　　1. What did Tony bring with him as a gift for his Chinese colleague?

　　因为Tony知道中国同事喜欢西方音乐，所以就送给他最新的唱片。

　　2. Did Tony wrap up the tapes?

　　Tony精心包装了他的礼物。

　　3. When Tony gave his Chinese hosts the gift, what did they do?

　　Tony的同事仅仅表示了一下感谢，然后就把礼物撂在一边。

　　4. What did Tony expect them to do?

　　Tony希望他的同事能够当面打开礼物，然后对他的礼物夸奖一番。

　　In the West , it is regarded as polite to open gifts as soon as they are given to express appreciation. In China, the situation is quite the reverse. Normally we Chinese feel that if you open the gift as soon as it is given, you might embarrass the person who gives the gift and you might be thought greedy. So Chinese people tend to open the gifts after the visitors have left. What is more, many people send gifts without wrapping them, and if they wrap them, they usually tell the receiver what is inside, and the receiver will thank the sender and put the gift aside without unwrapping them since they already know what is inside. However, when we receive gifts from an English native speaker, in order to avoid misunderstanding, we may follow their custom by opening the gifts in front of him or her and express our appreciation.

　　中西方去朋友家做客送礼的差别：

　　中国人送礼喜欢成双，比如说两瓶酒，两条烟。一是为了显示自己不是小气人，二是为了讨个吉利数字。去朋友或者亲戚家做客，拎点水果是非常普遍的情况。

　　但是，在西方，人们送酒的时候都是只送一瓶。 One is quite enough, two are of course welcome but unusual and not expected. 因为他们吃饭的时候要喝客人带来的酒，如果客人拿了两瓶，似乎表明客人是个酒鬼，他恐怕一瓶酒不够喝。

　　去朋友家做客一般也不送水果。水果一般是作为看望病人时候的礼物。

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