Tools
What are you about to do? Find the right tool for your situation.
โญ VIP ยท Flagship Tool
China Situation Advisor
Meeting your girlfriend's parents? Attending a business dinner? Just got a strange response to an email? Describe your situation in plain English and AI gives you a complete action plan: risk level, Do/Don't list, what to say (with Chinese), and your 30-second game plan.
Try it โ describe your situation โ
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I'm giving a gift
Chinese gift-giving has more rules than you think โ and breaking them can cause real offence. Use these tools before you buy.
Gift Risk Scanner โญ VIP
Before you spend money on a gift: AI scans it for hidden Chinese taboos โ sounds like death or separation, unlucky numbers in the price, forbidden categories. You get a risk score (0โ100), every taboo explained, and three culturally safe alternatives.
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Gift Checker
A quick rule-based check for your gift against the full Chinese etiquette rulebook โ clock taboos, unlucky numbers, forbidden food categories, presentation rules. Get a clear Safe / Risky / Avoid verdict with the reason.
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Gift Finder โญ VIP
Tell us your budget, the occasion (wedding, birthday, business visit, Spring Festival), and your relationship to the recipient. We filter out culturally problematic options and suggest gifts that will actually land well.
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Red Packet Calculator โญ VIP
Too little looks stingy. Too much creates an awkward obligation. The right hongbao amount depends on your relationship, the occasion, your relative wealth, and local norms. Answer a few questions and get the number โ and which digits to avoid.
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Lucky Number Checker
Quoting ยฅ444? That's "death death death." ยฅ888? Perfect. Before you quote a price, choose a quantity, or set a date โ check what that number means culturally. Covers all famous combinations (8, 4, 88, 168, 666, 888) and uses AI for any number you enter.
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I'm meeting / eating with Chinese people
Dinners, home visits, festivals, and first meetings all have their own unspoken rules. These tools help you handle them without an awkward moment.
Banquet Simulator โญ VIP
Chinese business dinners have rules you won't find in any guidebook: where to sit, who pours whose drink, how to survive baijiu toasts, when to leave food on the plate, and how to decline without offending. This interactive simulator puts you through 8 scenarios so you're not improvising on the night.
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What Should I Do? โญ VIP
Your host just poured you a third glass of baijiu. Your colleague's boss walked in mid-argument. You gave a gift that wasn't well received. Describe what's happening โ the tool walks you through exactly what to do, what to say, and what not to do in this specific situation.
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Am I Being Rude? โญ VIP
Western instincts often misfire in China: splitting the bill when you're a guest, calling your host's boss by first name, refusing a second serving without explanation. Describe what you're about to do โ AI tells you whether it reads as rude and gives you the culturally correct alternative.
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Etiquette Quick Cards
Eight situations, eight cards: business card exchange, seating at a dinner table, giving gifts at a home visit, baijiu toasting, face-saving moves, first meeting dos and don'ts, and more. Print them or keep them on your phone before you need them.
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Emergency Cards
When something goes wrong โ you've accidentally offended someone, you can't drink any more, you need to leave the dinner early โ you need the right phrase and you need it fast. These 12 cards cover the moments most likely to blindside a foreigner in China.
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Chinese Phrase Bank
You don't need to be fluent โ you need the right phrase at the right moment. Toasts, apologies, thanks, compliments, polite refusals, and greetings for every situation. Copy and paste directly into WeChat, or learn the pinyin before you go.
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Festival Checklist โญ VIP
Chinese New Year, Mid-Autumn, Dragon Boat, Qixi โ each festival has its own gift expectations, greetings, dos and don'ts. This checklist counts down to the next festival and tells you exactly what to prepare, what to give, and what not to do.
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Social Minefield Map
Most foreigners make the same mistakes โ and they're not the obvious ones. Pointing at the wrong seat, pouring your own drink first, complimenting someone's home too enthusiastically. This map covers 46 real situations organized by context so you can find your risk areas.
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I'm communicating with Chinese people
Chinese communication is indirect. Silence means something. "Maybe" often means No. These tools help you decode what's really being said โ and say the right thing back.
What Did They Really Mean? โญ VIP
"่่ไธไธ" (I'll think about it) means No. "ๆๆบไผ" (There'll be a chance) means Never. Chinese people rarely say No directly โ they signal it. Paste any message or describe what happened, and AI decodes the real meaning, the emotional subtext, the face dynamics, and tells you exactly how to respond.
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Subtext Quick Lookup
A fast reference for the 40 most common indirect Chinese phrases. Select or search the phrase you heard โ see the literal meaning, the likely real meaning, and a suggested response. For any phrase not in the list, use the AI-powered Message Decoder above.
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Is This Too Direct? โญ VIP
Western directness often reads as rude or aggressive in Chinese business culture. Paste your WeChat message, email, or proposal โ the checker scores your tone, flags phrases that might cause offence, and rewrites the awkward parts into culturally appropriate language.
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Greeting Generator โญ VIP
The right greeting at the right time signals cultural awareness. Tell us the occasion (Spring Festival, business congratulations, birthday, condolences), your relationship, and your level of formality โ get an exact greeting in Chinese with pinyin and an explanation of why it works.
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What Should I Call Them? โญ VIP
Using the wrong title in China signals you don't understand hierarchy โ which damages trust before you've said anything else. Answer 3 questions about your contact's role, your relationship, and the context โ get the exact form of address to use, written out, with an explanation.
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I'm in a Chinese business or relationship context
Face, hierarchy, guanxi, and timing drive every business interaction in China. These tools map the invisible forces and tell you how to navigate them.
Chinese Social Decoder โญ VIP
Every Chinese social situation has invisible dimensions: whose face is at stake, who outranks whom, how strong the relationship is, what reciprocity is owed, and whether the timing is right. AI scores your specific situation on all five dimensions and gives you a concrete action plan.
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Chinese Parent Simulator โญ VIP
Traditional Chinese parents will ask about your job, salary, housing, family background, and plans for children โ in the first meeting. AI plays the parent, takes your answers seriously, scores your performance, and coaches you on exactly what a traditional Chinese family wants to hear from a foreign partner.
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How Strong Is Our Relationship? โญ VIP
In China, business runs on relationships โ and relationships have a temperature. Answer 12 questions about your history with a contact: how long you've known them, whether you've shared meals, exchanged gifts, helped each other. Get a warmth score and a specific list of actions to strengthen or repair the connection.
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Business Date Picker โญ VIP
Signing a contract on the wrong date โ a day with unlucky associations, during a ghost month, or clashing with a contact's zodiac โ can genuinely make Chinese partners uncomfortable. This picker flags the best and worst dates in your window, with the cultural reason for each.
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Lucky Number Checker
Quoting ยฅ444? That's "death death death." ยฅ888? Perfect. Before you quote a price, choose a quantity, or set a date โ check what that number means culturally. Covers all famous combinations (8, 4, 88, 168, 666, 888) and uses AI for any number you enter.
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What Should I Call Them? โญ VIP
Using the wrong title in China signals you don't understand hierarchy โ which damages trust before you've said anything else. Answer 3 questions about your contact's role, your relationship, and the context โ get the exact form of address to use, written out, with an explanation.
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Learning Path Generator โญ VIP
You don't need a generic "China culture" overview โ you need to know what matters for your specific situation. Tell us where you're going, how long you'll be there, and what situations you'll face (business dinners, factory visits, meeting a partner's family). Get a prioritised study plan.
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โญ VIP tools require a 30-day pass ($9.99). See what's included โ