Most ordinary Chinese residents in tourist cities open to foreigners can speak a little bit of English. Therefore, a "Hello" or "How do you do?" is acceptable to most of them. Of course, a smile or a wave will also elicit a friendly response. At any rate, a smile is a universal language that needs no translation.

Chinese are getting used to typical western greetings such as nihao (hello) or jiandaoni hengaoxing (very nice to meet you). As for forms of meeting, handshakes are popular in the cities.

Chinese normally do not embrace each other. Kissing, whether on the cheeks or on hands, is usually unacceptable to the Chinese.