I am heading to China for a week of negotiations with a company’s board of directors. My background in Asia tells me I should bring gifts, but I am struggling with what gifts to bring a board. Any ideas? Also, should I bring a gift for the government official involved?
Thanks!
I can tell you what NOT to give:
a clock — in Chinese the words "give a clock as a gift" sound exactly like the words "attend a funeral", so this is considered to be a very bad luck gift.
anything sharp — knives, scissors, letter openers, etc. Chinese superstition says a sharp gift will sever the relationship.
any sort of green hat (like a golf hat, baseball cap, etc) — in traditional Chinese opera, the cuckolded character wears a green hat. To this day, the expression "you wear a green hat" is an insult and means "your wife cheats on you".
anything with the number 4 — a set of four coffee cups, four plates, you get the idea. The number 4 sounds like the word "death" in Chinese and is avoided in gift giving.
I do like the calendar idea given by the person above. Calendars are a very popular (and safe!) gift in China.
Hope that helps!