[Abstract] This paper makes a contrastive study on communication between Chinese culture and Western culture. In cross-culture communication, there are a lot of examples about hurting others because of cultural barriers. Sometimes our talk which intends to express goodwill can make people feel embarrassed, later we are misunderstood. In order to communicate effectively, thus the contrastive study on communication between Chinese culture and Western culture can not be ignored. Communication can be divided into ten parts: greetings, farewells, chatting, invitation, caring words, addressing, compliments and response, thanks and response, receiving gifts, asking and answer. This paper aims to deal with differences in communication between Chinese and Westerners and attempts to seek cultural interpretations for the differences.
[Key words] culture communication; cultural barriers; contrastive & difference.

Contents

1.    Introduction……………………………………………………………………………2
2.    Communication differences between Chinese culture and Western culture………2
2.1   Greetings………………………………………………………………………………2
2.2   Farewells………………………………………………………………………………3
2.4   Chatting………………………………………………………………………………4
2.4   Invitation………………………………………………………………………………5
2.5   Caring words …………………………………………………………………………5
2.6   Addressing……………………………………………………………………………6
2.7   Compliments and response…………………………………………………………6
2.8   Thanks and response…………………………………………………………………7
2.9   Receiving gifts…………………………………………………………………………8
2.10  Asking and answer……………………………………………………………………8
3.    Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………8
致谢语………………………………………………………………………………………9
引用文献……………………………………………………………………………………..9
中文摘要……………………………………………………………………. ………………10
1. Introduction
China has joined WTO and will hold the Olympic Games in 2008, the relationship between China and Western countries in politics, economy, culture becomes closer and closer. There is no doubt that the communication will play an important role in this process. When people of different cultural background communicate with each other, it is often the case that they misunderstand each other if they do not know well of each other’s cultural norms and rules. Since China and the West belong to cultures which differ greatly, the communication between Chinese and Westerners can be very difficult and sometimes completely out of the question. In the intercultural communication between Chinese and Westerners, the most important questions that must be addressed are: how can Chinese communicate effectively with Westerners and how can Westerners communicate effectively with Chinese? The answers lie mainly in the correct use of language which is accepted by both Chinese and Westerners.
This paper aims to deal with differences in communication between Chinese and Westerners and attempts to seek cultural interpretations for the differences.
2.   Communication differences between Chinese culture and Western culture
Everybody knows that language on communication refers to language used for establishing an atmosphere or maintaining social contact besides for exchanging information or ideas. It can be divided into ten parts: greetings, farewells, chatting, invitation, caring words, addressing, compliments and response, thanks and response, receiving gifts, asking and answer. The importance of communication is well shown in its function of establishing and maintaining relationships between people.
2.1   Greetings
 Cultural differences on greetings between Westerners and Chinese can be found in many aspects of daily communication. They play an important role in establishing and maintaining social relationships between people. Greeting expressions vary from language to language, from culture to culture. Although both Chinese and English-speaking people, when they meet, have the habit and custom of greeting each other, the expressions, the ways, the frequency of their greetings are quite different. In the following, we will look at some cultural differences between China and Western countries. When people meet acquaintances or friends, they usually greet each other. Formulaic expressions are often used, but such formulaic expressions often cause conflict because of the great cultural differences between Chinese and native English speakers. In English speaking countries, people often employ the following expressions to greet each other “Good morning/afternoon/evening/night.” “How is everything going?” “How are you?” “It’s a lovely day, isn’t it?” While in China, when people greet each other they usually consider the other one’s situation and intention first, so expressions such as “Have you eaten yet?”(你吃了吗？) “Where have you been ? ”(你上哪里去？) “What are you going to do?” (你干什么去？) etc. are often used to show our consideration. However, Westerners will treat them as real questions which cannot be asked randomly for they belong to privacy.