What are opening conversational topics in China？
2 min readOpening topics tend to be personal.Between strangers，a typical opening question might be“ni zai nar gongzuo”（“Where do you work？”）or“nigan shenme gongzuo”（“What’s your job？”）.Between persons known to each other，initial questions are likely to be about the other person’s family life，especially about his or her children，but some Chinese feel uneasy about going into detail about a husband or wife.
Another good conversation starter is to ask where the other person was born and then talk about each other’s hometown.There are many possibilities in this case.
One can follow up by asking about the town’s location，the dialect，the cuisine，regional customs，etc.These topics are safe in the sense that they are unlikely to lead to any kind of cross-cultural misunderstanding.
At present，the topic of weather is popular because it is completely impersonal. One may begin a conversation by mentioning some items in the daily news，discussing a sporting or entertainment event，or commenting on a recent event.
What is the difference in daily farewells between Chinese and western people？
In some western countries，a visitor may state that he or she must depart soon，but will not leave immediately.One may continues a conversation or shared activity for several minutes or perhaps even as much as an hour.However，when a Chinese thinks it is time to leave，he or she announces that fact and immediately prepares to depart.
The western visitor who intends to depart may explain that something in his or her own personal situation compels the departure.Someone may say，for example，“I ve got to study for my chemistry test tomorrow，so I’d better be going.”When a Chinese offers a reason for leaving，it is unlikely to be related to his or her personal situation.What one usually says is often related to the other person’s needs，such as，”I won’t take up any more of your time”or”I’m sorry that I’ve wasted so much of your valuable time.”
As a western leaver is actually leaving，the host accompanies him or her to the door and may even step outside to offer a farewell wave as the visitor goes away.
However，a Chinese host commonly accompanies a guest out of the door and for somedistance，while continuing to talk.The distance that the host accompanies a guest is a sign of the respect shown by the host.
