初次见面 and 请多关照

[perjp]

I've noticed that my Chinese-speaking Japanese friends tend to say 初次见面 and 请多关照 when meeting people for the first time. This corresponds to the Japanese 初めまして/Hajimemashite and よろしくお願いします/Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

My question is, do Chinese people really say this to each other when meeting for the first time? My guess is that that its just a Japanese habit, at least the 初次见面 part. Its kinda hard for a laowai to find out what two Chinese people do when meeting each other for the first time, but I usually got a normal 你好 with a 认识你很高兴 stuck in at the end.

[semantic nuance]

We normally say 你好 when people meet for the first time.

Hope it helps!

[gougou]

I've seen both before. 初次见面 (in fact I believe it was 第一次见面) was said when taking leave after having met someone for the first time, acknowledging once again that, gee, what lucky twist of fate brought us together here for the first time tonight.

请多关照 I've seen a lot on forums, when people enter a new group and want to make sure not to be ignored in the future.

[skylee]

My question is, do Chinese people really say this to each other when meeting for the first time?

I don't think so.

As gougou has pointed out, we might say 第一次見(面), and/or 請多多關照, but they are not set phrases as in Japanese. And normally people simply say 你好.

[drharvey]

Actually, 初次见面 and 请多关照 is very formal words used in business, usually for the first meeting.

People rarelly say these words in daily life.

Most often, they say 你好，instead.

[teatea]

You're right. "初次见面，请多多关照" is just the translation of Japanese. Chinese seldom say it. When you first meet someone, "你好" or "您好" is enough. And "很高兴见到你"is the translation of English. It is used a little more than "初次见面，请多多关照". Both of them are very very formal, mostly used in business and political occasions and in the novels and TV program.