New Year gift for teacher?

[taijiphoenix]

Hello,

I was wondering what would be a suitable gift to give my chinese teacher for chinese new year? Any Ideas? I was thinking of maybe making her a painting. But I don't know.

taijiphoenix

[Xiwang]

I always give red envelopes. Nothing beats cash, especially for Chinese.

[xiaotao]

Edible practical stuff will be well received. In Asian markets, new year gifts are all packaged in ready to give. Such things may include, dried scallops, dried mushrooms, dried abolone, dried oysters. Red envelopes are always good but I'm not sure if it is customary to give red envelopes to teachers on new years. Red envelopes are for unmarried youngesters.

[MattG]

I agree with Xiaotao. Red envelopes would probably not be suitable for your teacher (unless you need a few extra marks to lift your grade!) If you are in China maybe give a gift that has something to do with your home country...a random souviener of somesort. This always goes over well especially if your souvineer wasnt Made in China! There are usually specialty shops in China that sell foriegn things, or get some western style cakes/biscuits out of the imported section of Carrefour/Walmart!

If you are in your home country maybe take a stroll through China town and pick up something Chinese...like red decorations or homeware!

[Kenny同志]

I would be very happy to receive a painting from my students if I were a teacher. Red envelope for a teacher is, I should say, a bad choice. As Xiaotao points out, red envelope is for unmarried youngsters (and 父母、长辈 like your grandparents )if you've already stood on your feet.

[abcdefg]

Here in Kunming, I just yesterday got my teacher a fine big piece of Yunnan huotui (cured ham) on the bone. It was a safe bet since I know she likes to cook.