Chinese Culture
By Deji Osobukola
The red colour of the flag symbolizes revolution. The large star symbolizes the communist party and the smaller stars represent the people of china. The population of china makes up a quarter of the world’s population. There are 55 ethnic groups within the Chinese mainland.
Most Chinese people will greet each other by shaking hands and giving each other a very slight bow. Mandarin is referred to as standard Chinese. Cantonese is associated with commerce.
Ni Hao - Hello!
Zai Jian - Goodbye
Xie Xie - Thank you
Dui Bu Qi - sorry
Losing ones temper in china is frowned at and it takes you nowhere
Chinese people are polite in the way they talk and interact with each other. It is not polite to ask about people’s age, income, private life or where one does his or her shopping.
It is rude to stand your chopsticks in your rice when you are not using them. In china the food is put in a dish in the centre of the table and everyone takes from it. It is rude to select some food and leave some. You are expected to at least have a taste of everything.
Smoking is seen as a bad habit although most Chinese men smoke. Very few chinese women smoke
The number 4 is regarded as an unlucky number, this is because the number 4 in Chinese (Si) sounds very similar to the word for death.
The Chinese like karaoke, ballroom dancing, basketball, badminton, ping-pong and snooker.
