Most of what visitors worry about is not an issue. You will be forgiven almost anything as an obvious foreigner making an obvious effort. These are the ones with real weight behind them.
The ones that carry actual meaning#
Chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice. They resemble incense sticks burned for the dead. This is the most visceral of the taboos and the easiest to avoid — rest them across the bowl.
Giving a clock as a gift. 送钟 (sòng zhōng), to give a clock, sounds identical to the phrase for attending a funeral. Umbrellas carry a similar problem, sounding like to separate. Both are widely observed.
Writing someone's name in red ink. Historically associated with the dead and with severing ties. Use any other colour.
The one with practical consequences#
Photographing military personnel, police, government buildings or airport security. This is not etiquette, it is the category most likely to produce a genuine problem — a deleted phone at best, a lengthy conversation at worst. Border areas, Tibet and Xinjiang warrant particular care. When in doubt, do not.
Reading the room on politics#
Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and the Party are not conversational topics with people you have just met. Not because you will be arrested for an opinion, but because you may put a Chinese acquaintance in an uncomfortable position they cannot easily leave — the cost of the conversation falls on them, not you.
If someone raises it themselves, listen more than you argue.
What genuinely does not matter#
Tipping, which is simply not done. Slurping noodles, which is fine. Using the wrong chopstick grip. Not knowing which dish to try first. Speaking no Mandarin at all. Nobody is keeping score, and visible effort counts for far more than accuracy.
For the underlying conventions rather than the list of prohibitions, read the guide to Chinese etiquette.