Does anyone know about Chinese traditions etc?

Fancy a Cuppa
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Does anybody know anything about Chinese tradition or culture, that would help me with this?

We have had an extension built onto our house and the architect is a Chinese gentleman. He is very lovely and has been a great help; I would like to make him a gift, to show our appreciation.
I’m a bookbinder, so I thought I would make a hand bound leather notebook or journal, with some lovely crisp, cream-coloured paper that I have.

So Questions:

Would such a gift be acceptable to a Chinese gentleman? He has lived in UK for a while, but seems quite traditional in his outlook, so I would like to show respect for his own cultural roots (without it being creepy about it!).

Is there a colour that is especially nice/ good / welcome, for a gift - ie. a particular colour that would be nice for the leather book cover? And, is there any colour I should avoid?

I know that many Chinese people regard certain numbers as auspicious or lucky. I thought I might try to match the number of pages in the book, to an auspicious number - just to be nice. Would this be a good idea and if so, can you help with a good number, somewhere between 55-90 perhaps?

Last question: Does all this sound good, or does it sound silly? Should I just get over myself and make the damn book, or is it right / nice to try and make it in a good colour etc?

Thanks!!

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Can’t help with the tradition side of things but it sounds like a lovely idea. :slight_smile:

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I don’t know if you could find out the year he was born, and put that symbol on the book cover. I know gold and red may be colours, but that may just be the colours used in our local take away.
It’s a lovely idea and I am sure whatever you do it will be a welcome gift. Marg. x

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Red and 8 are particularly auspicious in Chinese culture. If it was me I would say a red leather cover with 88 pages would be perfect, perhaps with a “fu” symbol on the cover which denotes luck.

Hope this helps!

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Thanks for the ideas and thoughts, all! I have taken out a lovely, bright red piece of gorgeous leather, which will be just right for this book. Now deciding what style of book I will make…
:slight_smile:

Lizzie

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