Cultural Differences Between East And West Contents•1.What leads to the cultural difference?•2.How differently do people behave in daily life? •3.What can we do to treat the culture gap? Part I What leads to the cultural difference? •The cultures of the East and the West really distinguish each other a lot. This is because the culture systems are two separate systems on the whole. •The origin of the eastern cultures is mainly from two countries: China and India. Both of the two cultures are gestated by rivers. In China, the mother river is the Yellow River while the Indian one is the Hindu River. Yellow River 黄河Hindu River 印度河 •These two cultures were developed for several thousand years and formed their own styles. Then in Tang Dynasty of China, the Chinese culture gradually went overseas to Japan, mixed into the Japanese society and shaped the Japanese culture nowadays. Though a bit different from the Chinese one, it belongs to the same system. •Cultures of the Ancient Greece(古希腊) and Ancient Rome(古罗马)are well-known as the base of the European culture. •Like the Chinese culture, the European one also crossed waters. When the colonists of England settled down in America, their culture went with them over the Atlantic Ocean(大西洋). So the American culture doesn't distinguish from the European one a lot. •At the same time, the difference of the language systems adds to the cultural differences. In the East, most languages belong to the pictographic language(象形文字) while the Western languages are mostly based on the Latin system(拉丁语系). •Other factors like human race difference counts as well. Part II How differently do people behave in daily life? •Section 1: Greeting(问候)•How do we Chinese greet each other? Informally, if we meet an friend in the street, we are used to say: “Hi, have you had your meal?” or “Where are you going?”. When it is the case of two gentlemen, they tend to shake hands(握手). •However, in the western countries, the above questions are just questions, not greeting at all. They may think you’re inviting them to dinner if you ask about their meals. Usually, they’ll just give each other a smile or greet with a “Hi.”. They’ll shake hands only in some formal situations •Section 2: Expressing gratitude(表达感谢)•In Chinese families, we rarely say “Thank you” to other family members for receiving help or service. Neither will we say so between good friends. •But in the West, "thank you" is one of the most frequently used sentences. Teachers will thank a student for answering a question; husbands will thank his wife for making a coffee. •Section 3：Dining(用餐)•Easterners use chopsticks(筷子).We hold our food, meat or vegetable, with the chopsticks, send them to the mouths, bite off a part of it and remain the other part on the chopsticks.•We are also used to hold up our bowls when having rice or soup. But all these habits are considered rude in the Western countries. •The etiquette in the West requests that when eating, bowls and plates cannot leave the tables. Food should be cut by knives to fit into the mouths.Of course your mouth cannot touch the plates or bowls. •Section 4:Symbolizing(象征)• Red means luck, fortune here. We Chinese often use this color to decorate in festivals, such as red lanterns, red Chinese nodes, red bangers. But red stands for blood, revolutions in the West. So the presidents avoided wearing this unlucky color. Part III What can we do to treat the culture gap? •Firstly, we cannot deny any of the cultures. Every nation has its own characteristics and it’s mainly through its culture that we first begin to know the nation and its characteristics. So we cannot say that this culture or custom is right and that is wrong. •Next, we should get to learn how to coordinate the different cultures. We say the world is becoming smaller and smaller. More foreigners come and go everyday. When it is in the same country, the same city, the same neighborhood, the cultural collision is expected to be more serious. •So we should try to avoid this happening. One important thing is to get some basic knowledge about the other cultures so as not to misunderstand some actions or habits of the foreigners. •We can take in some strong points from the foreign cultures. Though there doesn’t exist correctness in terms of culture, it does have the terms of more advanced or more suitable for the world nowadays. Of course, we cannot throw away our own culture and accept another one totally. •Different cultures add the most colorful element to the world of 21st century. The cultural gap should not be the obstacle to the civilization of human being. It ought to be the motivation of our going farther. That's All.Thank you! 。