Etiquette & Cultural Notes

Most etiquette advice about China is either outdated or overstated. Foreign visitors are not expected to know local conventions and are readily forgiven for missing them. That said, a handful of things do matter — either because they cause real offence, or because getting them right makes interactions noticeably warmer.

Things that genuinely matter

Never stick chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice. It mimics incense at a funeral and reads as a death omen. Lay them across the bowl or on the rest.
Receive and give things — business cards, gifts, your passport, money — with two hands, or at least with the right hand supported at the wrist. It takes a second and is always noticed.
Do not touch anyone's head, including children's, and do not point the soles of your feet at a person or an altar.
Walk clockwise around Buddhist and Tibetan religious structures, and spin prayer wheels clockwise. In Tibetan areas this is not a nicety.
Ask before photographing people, especially monks, minority women in traditional dress, and anyone at prayer. A gesture with the camera and a smile is enough.

Things that do not matter as much as you think

Tipping. Not expected in restaurants, taxis or hotels, and occasionally awkward. Private guides and drivers are the exception.
Slurping, and eating loudly generally. Normal and not rude.
Elbows on the table, reaching across dishes, standing to serve yourself. All fine.
Bowing. Not a Chinese custom. A nod and a handshake is the norm.
Formal dress. China is casual almost everywhere; only high-end restaurants and business settings expect more.

Face, and why it explains a lot

Mianzi — face — is the social currency of dignity and standing, and it explains behaviour that otherwise looks strange. Someone will give you confidently wrong directions rather than admit they do not know. A disagreement will be handled indirectly rather than head-on. Public criticism, even mild, lands much harder than it would at home.

The practical application: never raise your voice, never make someone visibly wrong in front of others, and give people a graceful exit from mistakes. A complaint made quietly and warmly gets resolved; the same complaint made loudly does not.

Queues, personal space and noise

Queueing culture in China is real but looser than in Britain or Japan, and crowds compress in ways that visitors find startling — on metro platforms, at ticket gates, in temple entrances. It is not aggression; personal-space norms are simply different. Hold your ground pleasantly and move with the flow. Public spaces are also louder than Western visitors expect: phone calls on speaker, video watched without headphones, and a general acoustic energy that is simply the norm.

Photography and sensitivity

Situation	Guidance
Military, police, border installations	Do not photograph. This is enforced and can be serious
Airports, some stations, government buildings	Discretion advised; security will ask you to stop
Inside temples and cave shrines	Frequently prohibited. Look for signs and obey them — pigment and religious practice both matter
People in minority dress	Ask. Many will happily agree; some will ask for a small fee, which is fair
Drones	Heavily restricted, require registration, and are banned outright over most scenic areas and all border zones

Conversation

You will be asked how old you are, how much you earn, whether you are married and why not. These are ordinary friendly questions rather than intrusions, and a vague cheerful answer is perfectly acceptable. Politics is best left alone — not because it is dangerous for you, but because it puts your interlocutor in an awkward position, which is precisely the face problem described above.