Just like Chinese, Westerners give gifts on many occasions, such as, on birthdays of family members, at weddings, at Christmas a

Just like Chinese, Westerners give gifts on many occasions, such as, on birthdays of family members, at weddings, at Christmas and some other holidays, when someone achieves an honor or gets a promotion, and on a farewell visit to a good friend, etc. Although gifts are always welcome, it is not necessary to exchange gifts at any time. Generally speaking, Westerners exchange gifts only among good friends. Therefore, it is inappropriate to give gifts to casual acquaintances Even if you are good friends, if you give them too many gifts, they will feel uncomfortable too, because they don’t know how to reciprocate (报答).
       Usually when you are invited to dinner, it is absolutely unnecessary, to bring a gift except on special occasions, for example, when you are going to be an overnight or weekend guest. If you wish to bring something,  in most cases, the gifts should always be  small, simple and inexpensive You might bring some small toys, or some sweets for the children, or a book, some flowers, a bottle of wine, etc. for the host or hostess. If you like，you can wrap the gifts，but wrapping is not always necessary. If you want to make your gifts special, you can bring some typical Chinese goods, such as, Chinese tea, Chinese book-marks, Chinese papercuts, Chinese paintings, or other things like that, or you can even cook a Chinese dish and bring it with you.
       Westerners prefer to open a gift at once and admire it. They would thank you and make some comment about the gift’s beauty or practicality so that you know your gift is highly appreciated. Westerners value homemade things. When they ask you whether the gift is home made，in fact，they are flattering you. They are trying to tell you that you are skillful and talented enough to make it.