Here is a very interesting piece by Natalie Chen, a Chinese scholar and researcher on the important things you need to know about the chinese culture which will also enable you mingle well with the Chinese locals and other foreigners alike. Enjoy...

Hey guys, I am Natalie from China. I am so happy to have this opportunity to share with you something about Chinese culture. For the record, I love to communicate with foreigners since it is a good way to know about different cultures before actually going there. And the other fun part is that through talking with you I usually get new perspectives about how they think of China, which brings me quite a lot of inspiration. However, through the conversation, I find it that some foreigners seem to have a few misunderstandings about Chinese culture and local customs. Here are some of the examples. I hope you can find it practical if you would like to come to China to study, travel or work.

和外国的小伙伴聊天，好玩之处不仅仅在于可以了解他们国家的风俗文化，同时也可以了解到他们眼中的中国是怎样的，有些观点和思路确实带来了很多的新的视角，不过有些对我们文化的理解，并不是像他们想象中的那样的。如果你是个外国娃，想来中国玩耍、学习或者工作，不妨看看你是否都了解中国的这些文化现象。

1. Blind Date
I guess it is well-known that the blind date is so popular among Chinese and it can date back to the ancient time. However, this custom does change quite a lot over time. Parents no longer play a dominant role when it is concerned with who their son or daughter wants to marry. I can still remember one of my Nigerian friends once complained to me about how Chinese parents could arrange the marriage for their children. Well, to be honest, that is no longer the case. Parents are crazy here. They are crazy about using all kinds of resources to search for the suitable Mr. or Miss. Rights for their children, including setting up countless blind dates. However, It is the children themselves get to decide who to marry in the end.
相亲
中国的相亲文化盛行，其实来中国的每个外国人应该都有耳闻了，但是我们真的已经不是几千年前的封建文化大家长制了，不是爸妈拍板说你要和这人结婚你就必须和这个人结婚的。当有个小伙伴问我说“中国的家长怎么可以给小孩安排婚姻的时候”，我也很诧异，这里的爸妈确实很疯狂，但他们只是疯狂地介绍对象，还没有到逼迫你非这人不娶，非这人不嫁的地步哦。
[img]http://3.bp..com/-t3A7eMb2q1A/VUEIFKJkDTI/AAAAAAAAAE8/KSI_Xh-2D4Q/s1600/BLIND%2BDATE.jpg[/img]

2 Chinese architecture
Some foreign friends told me that they were a little bit disappointed when they came to China only to find out that the buildings here were of no special. Well, I was kind of disappointed when I heard of this remark too. Because they just had the wrong image about China before they came. I think they may know a lot about famous sightseeing spots such as the Forbidden City holding the view that all the buildings here are of the same style. Actually, it is very hard to maintain living in the wooden houses in such modern time. As far as China keeps at the current developing rate in economy, there shall be more skyscrapers and modern buildings which are more suitable for people to live in. Those ancient architectures you may find among the cities are probably built in the modern time with the advanced restoring technique.
中国建筑
当有外国小伙伴和我说中国大多数城市的建筑没什么特色的时候，其实，我也挺无奈的，可能在他们没来中国之前，看到的都是像北京故宫那样的建筑，以为中国的房子都是这样木式的建筑，一派古色古香，但其实，按照中国现在的人口结构和发展势头来看，未来只会有更多的现代摩天大楼，那些城市里偶然出现的古色建筑，不好意思，多半是后期翻新的了。
[img]http://2.bp..com/-JrMnRt38JmI/VUEIzJfY6qI/AAAAAAAAAFE/qRR_62A8Miw/s1600/ARCHITECTURE.jpg[/img]

3 Beijing opera
When speaking of Chinese culture, most foreigners would bring up the quintessence of Chinese culture, the Beijing opera. As far as I am concerned, a number of foreigners like it so much that they even learn it from some professional actors and actress. However, as for Chinese people, we are just not that into it right at this moment. If you happen to have watched the Spring festival TV show on CCTV once every year you would notice that the programs about operas are always shown after midnight. It is easy to understand that we just don’t have that lot of fans of Beijing opera. So it is quite usual to find some foreigner who knows it better than most Chinese.
京剧
很多外国朋友讲到对中国文化的认识，多多少少都会提到我们的国粹京剧，而且在外国人中还有很大一部分人很喜欢，但其实我想说的是，在中国人当中，喜欢京剧的还真的很小众，你没发现每年春晚戏剧类的节目都是被安排在了12点以后，由此可见它的接受度真的蛮小，可能真的就是曲高和寡了。所以会出现一个外国人比中国人还懂京剧，京剧唱得比中国人还好的局面，正常，正常。
[img]http://1.bp..com/-uW0hAtyY_yo/VUEJ_M0z89I/AAAAAAAAAFQ/cZGw5wBx5TI/s1600/IMG-20150429-WA0005.jpg[/img]

4 The Majiang
Actually, among Chinese people we tend to consider the Majiang as the quintessence of Chinese culture since it is so popular that above 90% of Chinese know how to play it. We felt quite ashamed when we heard that the Chinese representatives were defeated in the Worldwide Majiang Competition last year. Many Majiang experts even commented on the news that they wanted to represent our country to compete next year. Like the poker, it has a certain pattern with different rules among different places. It may be a little bit hard for a Chinese beginner to manage this game. But once you know about how to play it, for sure it will be a perfect way for you to fit into the culture by playing it with the locals.
麻将
在民间，相较于京剧，我们更喜欢把这个东西称之为我们的“国粹”，去年的某次麻将大赛上我们中国队败北可是引起了轩然大坡，很多民间高手都表示纷纷要代国出战，可想而知它的火热程度了。各个地方都有不同的游戏规则，但是类似扑克，用的牌面都是一样的，所以玩起来基本也是大同小异了。对于初来乍到的外国人来说要学会麻将确实还蛮难的，不过一旦掌握了，那就真的是接地气了。
[img]http://1.bp..com/-UcqfDZHpoxU/VUEKiN_dw1I/AAAAAAAAAFY/DxSBObWxNzE/s1600/MAJIANG.jpg[/img]

5 Chinese Kungfu
For your information, not all Chinese know how to do kungfu just as not every foreigner knows how to speak English. So you don’t have to worry at all when you accidently have some quarrels with Chinese since we are not going to use kungfu to beat you. The basic kungfu lessons is provided in schools but if you want to learn it systematically you had better go to some special organizations where professional classes will be offered. Heads up, those people there do well in Chinese kungfu. So please keep it in mind that don’t you ever try to mess up with them.
中国功夫
不是每个中国人都会武功的，就像不是每个外国人都一定会说英语。所以真的不用担心万一和中国人聊天聊不和了我们就会使出武功把你制服。学校里会提供一些基础的功夫课程，不过要想学得深还得去专门的武术学校、武堂或者少林寺，那他们的功力就真的是很强的了，最好不要轻易惹怒他们咯。
[img]http://4.bp..com/-uZ5aFKdxJFE/VUEMehKhPGI/AAAAAAAAAFk/mnmKTIhfQuc/s1600/KUNGFU.jpg[/img]

6 “Lao Wai”
When you come to China you would find it out soon that foreigners here are called “laowai”. To be exact it is a word that describes about those foreigners who look so different from Asian. Most of my foreign friends don’t like this name because they think that it is kind of insulting because “lao” in Chinese means old. Well, it is not quite true. Actually it is our nickname for foreigners since we have this tradition to call someone by adding “lao” to his last name. It works the same. You would find out how warmly welcome you are once you come here.
老外
懂得点普通话的外国人都知道这个词，就是中国人对外国人的统称，其实主要还是对长相和我们比较不一样的白人、黑人的称呼。蛮多外国朋友有提到说不是很喜欢这个叫法，或者有时候自嘲为“老外”，但其实，这真的是我们对外国友人的“昵称”，没有什么轻视、不友好的意味在里面。我们经常在姓氏前面加“老”来称呼比我们年长的人。所以，只要你来中国，你就会知道中国人民对“老外”是有多热情了。

7 “ Have you eaten?”
Just like hello this sentence is just a common greeting we use in China. When one person says so, he doesn’t really care whether you have eaten or not neither does he intend to buy you a meal. So the most simple answer should be “yes” or “I have”. For sure if you two are close friends, you can respond with a “NO” asking him of her to treat you afterwards.
你吃饭了吗？
就像你好一样，这只是中国人之间的一种打招呼方式，并不是真的关心你吃饭了没或者想要邀请你去吃饭的意思，所以，最简单的方式就是直接回答“嗯”或者“吃了”，当然如果你们之间的关系特别好，那么你可以回答“没吃”趁机让他请你吃一顿饭。

source: http://getchinesetic..com/2015/04/several-things-you-would-like-to-know.html