<p>My daughter is spending five weeks in China before she goes to college in the fall. For a week of her stay she will be staying with her Chinese American friend’s family in both Shanghai and Beijing. They have all done a lot to make this trip happen and I would love to send gifts along for my daughter to give as a thank you. I’m looking for some suggestions of somthing that might be small to carry, not perishable and possibly made in America. Any ideas?</p>
<p>My daughter was in a similar situation a few weeks ago, needing house gifts for friends of friends who are hosting her in Taiwan. (She needed to bring gifts to more than one family.) It was really hard to figure out what to bring, but she ended up with the following: Bags of small squares of Ghiardelli chocolates (they sell them at Target, and my daughter brought them in her carry-on in case the checked bags were subjected to high temperatures), gift boxes containing 6 small jars of assorted jellies made in Lancaster County, PA, a tourist area not too far from our home, and a Yankee Candle for her main hostess, who did the most to arrange her stay. She wrapped the Yankee Candle in clothes in her suitcase and it arrived intact.</p>
<p>They seemed to like the gifts.</p>
<p>Also, I don’t know if your daughter is bringing a laptop or not, but my daughter put a lot of photos of her family, friends, home, holiday celebrations, vacation trips, etc. on her computer and her hosts were extremely interested in seeing them. If she doesn’t bring a computer, maybe she can make an album of photos to bring. My daughter brought such an album when she did a homestay in Spain while in high school, and, again, her host mom was very interested to see the photos.</p>
<p>Popular gifts that American visitors brought to Germany – anything with photos of America on them – eg, laminated placemats (which fit easily in a suitcase) or coasters, or calendars. Coffee table books with US scenery photos. Decorating magazines (if they read English - Popular because the styles are so different), sun-catchers that hang in windows, and yes, Yankee Candles are very popular. So are Bath and Body Works items, which aren’t readily available elsewhere, or very expensive. Regional foodstuffs are great. Around here, we take jars of Vidalia Onion relish, or anything made with pecans.</p>
<p>Also add See’s candies, especially Nuts and Chews. I gave my friends a choice of Nuts and Chews or Mixed, and 95% chose Nuts and Chews. I know they are heavy but worth it.</p>
<p>Thanks Motheroftwo and binx. great ideas. She is bringing a laptop, so pictures are a great idea in addition to the others. Ghiradelli is a great idea if the girls don’t consume them before they get there.</p>
<p>H travels internationally for business and I usually make up little gift bags for his clients that include lots of American specialties: chocolate-covered cranberries, jelly bellies, reese’s peanut butter cups; macadamia nuts; ghiradelli chocolates, pez candy with fun dispensers, etc. </p>
<p>For women, silver turquoise bracelets made by American Indians are always a great gift.</p>
<p>I have no idea if chocolate is available in China - If not, then that would be a great gift, as would any other typically American foodstuff. In Germany, though, bringing American chocolate as a gift is similar to offering them American beer. Germans, Swiss, Brits, etc, are very proud of their chocolate, and many consider US versions to be inferior. </p>
<p>(Matter of taste. I personally like ALL kinds of chocolate.)</p>
<p>Europeans LOVE American Indian and Wild West stuff. The turquoise jewelry is a great idea.</p>
<p>H and I are going to China in late October to visit S who is teaching there. I wanted to bring some little gifts for the receptionists and Chinese teachers at his school but also am uncertain what to bring. I don’t know if chocolates will work as we are touring for two weeks before we meet up with S; I’ve also read on some travel boards that affluent Chinese are able to purchase
high end chocolates in Shanghai and Beijing. I wondered if my S’s friends would like NY Yankees tshirts. I am trying hard to think of something made here in NJ. Turqoise Indian bracelets are a good idea but aren’t they expensive?</p>
<p>Let me share my opinion here. Your gift should not just for the host family to consume but allow them to share with their friends. Something will give them the “face” is much more appreciated that things that taste good. </p>
<p>A Zippo lighter, a mid range name brand headphone, anything unique from USA. Make sure you don’t bring anything that is made in China if possible.</p>
<p>Chinese living in Beijing and Shanghai can buy high end chocolates from Europe–but not Ghiradelli’s or Sees. Taffy might be of more interest than chocolate–as chocolate is not uniquely American. Keep in mind, the Chinese are not as fond of dairy products as western cultures. </p>
<p>When my older son returned from China, he was given souvenir-type gifts–diaries with lovely brocade covers, small silk tapestries. </p>
<p>I sent my younger son with a small (inexpensive) watercolour of the mountains in our area.</p>
<p>I just now got an email from a German friend, asking for some Bath and Body Works “juniper breeze” body splash, some cross-stitch book mark kits, and some vegetable Season-all type spices. My H is going to Germany this weekend, and will take them. I’m trying to remember what all she bought for gifts when she was here last fall. She bought Dr. Pepper flavored lip gloss, pay day candy bars, Halloween hand towels, a bunch of Yankee Candle paraphernalia, and a lot of clothing – Braves t-shirts, althletic shoes – available in Germany, but more expensive. She also took a six pack of rootbeer back with her! (Maybe rootbeer flavored candy eg. rootbeer barrels - might travel better than chocolate.)</p>
<p>Regarding laserbrother’s last comment: My H had a coworker from China who became a US citizen. To celebrate, my H gave him a coffee mug with the American Flag on it – made in China!</p>
<p>Some great ideas. I really like the idea of Native American items. I’ve heard they like American T-shirts like college and sports teams, but one of the other girls is planning to bring those. My daughter is voting for the chocolates, but I’m concerned it’s really going to be too hot for them to last much past her first stop. I’m going to shop tomorrow and see what I can find that’s not made in China.</p>
<p>Beware:
A friend of mine who lives in AZ got some lapi lazuli jewelry without looking at the label. Only when unpacking the gift did she notice that this supposedly American Indian item had been made in China!</p>
<p>Teenagers may appreciate T-shirts, including collegiate ones; sports themed items such as Red Sox caps (or whatever sports team you support); parents may like to have a nice illustrated book about your general area?</p>
<p>I was in China in March. Chocolates are readily available in drug stores – but I believe they are given more often as gifts than eaten by the purchaser. Desserts are not big there. </p>
<p>I would think that if you could find baseball caps – not made in China – classic but fun books (for people studying English), or some kind of handmade local craft or food, you’d have happy hosts. Wrap gifts in nice scarves – they don’t rip like paper and are an added bonus gift.</p>
<p>I love the scarf wrapping! Remember, when carrying gifts in suitcases, that wrappings will probably be undone if suitcases are searched. Our German friends love American gift bags, so I usually just carry some flattened bags with me, and pop the gifts into them when we arrive.</p>
<p>Speaking of craft items, I just remembered, wooden items are appreciated in Germany. (I know we’re talking China - but I’m thinking there might be some carry over.) A lot of our trees do not grow in Germany - especially hardwoods, and solid wood anything is rare (except for pine.) Locally, we can find some nice little wooden boxes, household trinkets or statues, etc.</p>
<p>I got some handcarved animals in Pennsylvania - carved out of PA coal - that were big hits.</p>
<p>When my D went to India she ended up bringing a nice coffeetable paperback with photos of our city(this was not an inexpensive gift). She ended up doing two home stays instead of one and she ended up leaving a few of her own items with the second family. They liked her wind up travel alarm clock and her headlamp flashlight. We live in a beach town and she was advised to bring items that had ocean scenery. She was able to go to Longs drug store and pick up some small items as well to give away to kids. Pencils with dolphins, sea animal stickers, handtowels with a design from our city imprinted on it. Packs of playing cards with ocean scenes.
Her host families also asked if they could keep several of the photos of her family that she had brought along to show. So extra photos are a good idea.</p>
<p>My H had two college buddies who went on a young businessman’s tour of Russia when they were 22.</p>
<p>What did they bring in their suitcases? American souvenirs–from Disney to jeans. After the first scheduled stop they jumped off the tour and took their suitcases to a Russian pub where they quickly sold all of the souvenirs for huge rubles. Wads of rubles in their hands, they then took the group of Russian souvenir buyers on a four day champagne tour of high end sightseeing. It was a very jolly group by the end of that spontaneous tour.</p>
<p>Mind you, I don’t htink the Young Businessman’s group was impressed.</p>
<p>My kids participated in a homestay/language immersion program (not in China, though). For whatever reason, and I wouldn’t have thought of giving this on my own because it seems like a personal item, but they told us that the homestay moms love perfume or cologne - it’s well packaged (I put it in a ziploc bag just to be sure) and small to pack. The dads always loved American team shirts /baseball caps etc. We sent a travel Scrabble game along for the kids so that they could all practice language skills together, but that might not be as practical for China! We were also advised to send along plenty of photos from home and the kids’ families were absolutely fascinated by those.</p>
<p>Our D gave her host mother a picture book of California scenery…elicited the requisite oohs and aahs and the photo-intensive nature of it made the lack of ability to read English no problem.</p>
<p>I’m also in the give-a-book group. As laser says, the gift that can be kept and displayed becomes a prestige item. Many Chinese families put learning English as a top priority for their children so an English language picture book is a plus for all generations.</p>
<p>I like picture books: travel books from home or just splendid American scenery (the Grand Canyon is a big hit), science books especially of animals, atlases, anything from National Geographic.</p>
<p>When wrapping your present it’s best to choose red or pink paper (no white!) and don’t be surprised if they spirit it away without opening it. It’s considered rude to open a gift in front of the giver.</p>