Gifts for meeting gf's chinese parents for the first time

robgmun said:
(That's my hand BTW)

And yeah I had to pay for whole meal, fortunately in China it's a heck of a lot cheaper so it only cost me £90 to feed 12 people, and they were some of the most expensive items on the menu
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True that about the cost - even posh restaurants are very affordable; I presume that it's (like our continental cousins) that since most families go out a few times a week to eat that helps keep prices down. BTW your hand is too low down the chopsticks :p Do you also notice that most Chinese people have poor chopstick technique? My wife's auntie told me that I was using a knife and fork wrong, and I tell her that her chopstick skills are about the same!
 
Hah, my fiancée's parents say she uses chopsticks like an idiot. Their words. I was trying to teach her how "normal" people do it in a chinese restaurant last week. That got some weird looks.

I feel this is going off topic somewhat.
 
Went through the same thing recently meeting the parents of my girl friend. Gave the dad a crystal decanter + decent single malt. Mother got some earrings + some stuff from body shop as recommended by the GF.... You should give the grandma something too... Money is actually very good from a cultural point of view so even just giving her a tenner will net you big browny points... You will have to force them to accept the presents, is the culture to try to refuse them but if you insist they will respect you more. Good luck!
 
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The usual high quality responses GD is renowned for, thanks guys :)

Amidst the guff there were, however, a few constructive suggestions. Shortbread is a good shout, and I'll definitely take them out for a meal and pay. Good advice about maybe incorporating the numbers 8 or 6, and avoiding 4 at all costs (the sound for 4 in chinese is similar to the sound of the word for death, hence it's considered unlucky).

So:

- Dinner for them all
- Whisky for dad
- Shortbread for mum
- Something else for mum? Shortbread is like a few quid whereas the whisky will be a lot more... should I try to spend an equal amount? Maybe a bottle of wine
- Still no idea what to give the grandma

:(

Think I'll need to borrow some money from my parents too, and pay them back when I get my student loan. Ffs...

EDIT: I just remembered I have a set of playing cards I got from the Royal Yacht Britannia, they're unopened and have the royal seal etc printed on them. Seems a good fit for the dad cos I know he likes card games (gf told me so anyway)
 
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