Nonverbal communication

In general, there are few differences in nonverbal communication between Chinese culture and American culture. The most obvious one might be holding hands. It is quite common to see Chinese girls hold hands together walking and talking. People just think they are good friends; however, in the U.S, it is hard to see girls hold hands all the time walking in the campus, for they might be considered lesbian. On the other hand, if guys hold hands together, in both cultures people make the judgment that they are gay. The other example is "give me five". It is also be used in Chinese culture, but mostly in sports games or some particular occasion, like team competition. In the U.S, many guys do it as a way to say "hi"to their friends. To the contrast, Chinese won't consider "five"as a way of greeting.

Basically, you should look at people's eyes when you are talking to them. If you look around all the time and seem to think about somebody or something else, it is very rude. So the eye contact that shows your respect to others is the similarity between two cultures. The second similarity is body space, in both cultures, it is best to keep the distant not too fat and not to close. It is should be close enough to show your friendly and far enough to make each other feel comfortable.