Hand gestures in China?

lunetta
August 06, 2007, 09:59 AM posted in General Discussion
Having a background in a language (Danish) where handgestures are not a big part of the communication and having learned a language (Italian) where you almost can't talk without moving your hands I was wondering how Chinese was in this regard? 
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bazza
August 06, 2007, 10:09 AM

There are hand gestures for numbers. http://www.chinese-tools.com/resources/number-gestures.html Not sure about other things.

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lunetta
August 06, 2007, 10:24 AM

Are these the signs they use when playing that crazy drinking game where they have to drink if they get it wrong? I've never played it myself but that's what it looks like...

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KennyK
August 06, 2007, 10:35 AM

chinese people don't use hand gestures as much as westerners, but those hand gestures for counting are used fairly frequently... normally when buying something (speaking of which, i've only seen the "ten" as two fingers crossed like a plus)... there are also commonly-used offensive hand gestures...

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RonInDC
August 06, 2007, 11:18 AM

Lunetta- Pretty sure you're right about the card games. I've never played myself, but have seen them as well.

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kimiik
August 06, 2007, 12:47 PM

V sign and Thumbs up are understood everywhere in the world but not thumbs down. Don't ask me why. In big cities, you also see some "middle fingers."