礼尚往来 The exchange of gifts
中国人对礼物很重视，总觉得贵重的礼品才能表达心意，常常会把价格不菲的礼物送人。礼品既要价格不低，又要包装不俗，还要意义不浅。选购礼品真是一个不小的挑战。中秋节时，人们把包装精致、馅料讲究的月饼送礼，自己则吃普通的月饼。一些人出国之前总是花大量的时间和精力购买带有中国特色的礼品，比如京剧脸谱、中国扇子、中国结等等。
Chinese people pay great attention to gifts, they believe that only a valuable gift can best convey their feelings. This is why they often use precious or expensive items as gifts. The gift should be decently priced, well wrapped and should have some unique meanings. It is always a challenge to buy a gift for a Chinese person. During the Mid Autumn Festival, people will buy well-packaged, high quality moon cakes for gifts and keep the ordinary ones for their own consumption. Some people spend a lot of time and effort buying gifts with Chinese features before going abroad, such as Beijing opera masks, Chinese fans and knots.
十二生肖The twelve animal signs
中国传统文化中是用十二种动物做生肖来记录日期的循环。根据传说，黄帝曾邀请所有动物来他的国土上聚会，但遗憾的是，只有12个动物来了，老鼠自然是第一位，接下来是牛、然后是虎，后来是兔子、龙、蛇、马、羊、猴、鸡、狗、猪。出于感激，黄帝决定按动物们到的先后次序命名年份。很多中国人都特别相信一个人的出生年月是决定性格特征的主要因素。
In traditional Chinese culture, the 12 animal signs were used to record years. According to one legend, the Yellow Emperor invited all the animals to his kingdom, but unfortunately, only a total of 12 turned up, the mouse was naturally the first, followed by the ox, then tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep (goat), monkey, cock (rooster), dog and pig (boar). Out of gratitude, the Yellow Emperor decided to name the year after each of the animals in their order of arrival. Many Chinese people strongly believe that the time of a person's birth is a primary factor in determining that person's characteristics.
礼尚往来 The exchange of gifts
中国人对礼物很重视，总觉得贵重的礼品才能表达心意，常常会把价格不菲的礼物送人。礼品既要价格不低，又要包装不俗，还要意义不浅。选购礼品真是一个不小的挑战。中秋节时，人们把包装精致、馅料讲究的月饼送礼，自己则吃普通的月饼。一些人出国之前总是花大量的时间和精力购买带有中国特色的礼品，比如京剧脸谱、中国扇子、中国结等等。
Chinese people pay great attention to gifts, they believe that only a valuable gift can best convey their feelings. This is why they often use precious or expensive items as gifts. The gift should be decently priced, well wrapped and should have some unique meanings. It is always a challenge to buy a gift for a Chinese person. During the Mid Autumn Festival, people will buy well-packaged, high quality moon cakes for gifts and keep the ordinary ones for their own consumption. Some people spend a lot of time and effort buying gifts with Chinese features before going abroad, such as Beijing opera masks, Chinese fans and knots.
十二生肖The twelve animal signs
中国传统文化中是用十二种动物做生肖来记录日期的循环。根据传说，黄帝曾邀请所有动物来他的国土上聚会，但遗憾的是，只有12个动物来了，老鼠自然是第一位，接下来是牛、然后是虎，后来是兔子、龙、蛇、马、羊、猴、鸡、狗、猪。出于感激，黄帝决定按动物们到的先后次序命名年份。很多中国人都特别相信一个人的出生年月是决定性格特征的主要因素。
In traditional Chinese culture, the 12 animal signs were used to record years. According to one legend, the Yellow Emperor invited all the animals to his kingdom, but unfortunately, only a total of 12 turned up, the mouse was naturally the first, followed by the ox, then tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep (goat), monkey, cock (rooster), dog and pig (boar). Out of gratitude, the Yellow Emperor decided to name the year after each of the animals in their order of arrival. Many Chinese people strongly believe that the time of a person's birth is a primary factor in determining that person's characteristics.