Thor says ...

I almost lost an Arabic friend once by sending him a card with some yellow flowers on it. Colours are powerful signals in some cultures. In others they don't seem to matter so much. I've talked about this before in A Red, Black & White Culture, with some other older Chinese friends. Here are Rebecca's ideas about colour in China; (there is some more on colour in "Going to HuangQuan Lu":

Hi Thor,

Yes, it is true that China does have some COLOUR culture, especially for red and white. Red is the most loved colour in China because it means happiness and fortune.You can see it at wedding ceremonies, birthday parties, some festivals and so on. White means sadness; it appears at funerals. As far as I know, in China pink is also for girls, but dark brown for boys.Yellow means pornography and purple means homosexuality, which popular among some young people. But in ancient times, only emperors could use yellow. They had yellow beds, yellow chairs, yellow tables; even their underclothes were yellow! Anybody who used the same colour would lose his head. It's so strange about its new meaning today!

To be exact, I think most Chinese doesn't care too much about colour except red and white. So never take a white box to a wedding ceremony, and try to decorate with some red in your room during the festivals. Maybe it will bring you good fortune!

yours, rebecca