Chinese gift-giving dos and don'ts illustration featuring acceptable gifts like wine and fruits and taboo items like clocks and shoes.

This image provides a detailed guide to Chinese gift-giving customs, focusing on items that are considered either appropriate or taboo. On the left side, green checkmarks indicate suitable gifts, such as traditional Chinese rice wine, fresh fruits, and health supplements like calcium pills, which are seen as thoughtful and respectful gestures. These items are associated with health, prosperity, and good fortune, making them safe choices in most situations. On the right side, red crosses mark items to avoid, including clocks, which symbolize the end of time and death, shoes, which can suggest sending someone away, and anything associated with the number four, which sounds like the word for ‘death’ in Chinese. The color black and white, typically associated with funerals, as well as sharp objects and pears (which sound like ‘separation’ in Chinese), are also considered inappropriate. Understanding these nuances is essential for avoiding unintentional offense when giving gifts in Chinese culture.