Tipping in China

More of a western concept, tipping has not become a well-established practice in China yet. Foreign travelers in China are not expected to leave a tip to people like taxi drivers, waiters/waitresses of common restaurants, hair stylists, and service staff of Chinese hotels. Sometimes, your well-meant gratuity may give rise to misunderstanding and even embarrassment in some circumstances where traditional Chinese norm are customary.

However, there are always some exceptions. The act of tipping is catching on in many luxurious hotels and upscale restaurants now, and it is largely promoted in the tourist services catering to foreign travelers. If you are not sure whether you should leave a tip, you could check out following occasions for reference.

Tipping in restaurants is not really a common custom in mainland China. Most servers in Chinese style restaurants refuse tips, and some waiters may even chase you down to return the gratuity. However, in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Chengdu and Xian, some high-end restaurants catering to many Western tourists has become accustomed to receiving small tips.

Usually, a service charge of 10-15 percent will already be included in your bill and you cannot refuse to pay it unless you are unsatisfied with their service. In Hong Kong, beside a 10% - 15% service charge added to the bill, you can also leave some changes like about one or two dollars on the table or let them to keep the small changes when paying for the bill.

Tipping taxi drivers is not expected in Mainland China, particularly it is viewed as illegal at some establishments like airports. However, indeed you need to prepare some changes in advance as drivers don't always have change back to you, especially now most passengers in China are making payments through WeChat and AliPay.

However, in Hong Kong and Macau, taxi drivers will often round up the next dollar as a tip to themselves, and no extra tips are needed unless they perform some extra service beyond the call of duty like lifting your baggage in and out of the trunk. For example, if the fare is HKD 18.5, then you would pay HKD 20 and the taxi driver will most likely not give you back the change.

Tipping at hostels or inns is generally not expected, but in upscale hotels, the staff including the bellhops, concierges or waiters have grown accustomed to receiving tips from Western travelers. The tipping is not a must but will be greatly appreciated. You could tip them according to their service quality or you could just leave a tip of 10–15% of your bill.

In Hong Kong and Macau, the bellboys may expect a tip of $5-$10 when they carry your luggage between the car trunk and the hotel room. The spa service in some high-end hotels also comes with a small amount of tip if you are pleased with what they offer.

In China, tour guides and drivers will expect tips from foreign travelers. Even if you booked an organized tour covering everything including the hotel, sightseeing, guide and driver, you shall be aware of that the quotation offered by travel agencies usually doesn't include the tips for the guides and drivers. Therefore, if you are satisfied with their services, a tip is advisable at the end of the tour.

In fact, most tour guides and drivers generally rely on tips as a big part of their income, particularly the guides operating no-shopping tours has no chance to get commissions from the sales. The amount of the tip, of course, depends on the quality of service and the length of trip.

If you received excellent service and are satisfied with their efforts, you can tip the guide CNY80-100 per day and the driver expects a separate tip half the amount of what the guide gets (CNY40-50 per day). Usually tipping is done at the last day of each stop when the guide and driver seeing you off at the railway station or airport.

If you are going to take a Yangtze River Cruise between Chongqing and Yichang, you are expected to pay tips in following occasions. When boarding the ship, you shall tip the porters who help carry your luggage from the port to the cabin room, and the tip fee is according to the number of your items. Generally, CNY20-50 would be a good idea.

Besides, you are supposed to pay a mandatory tip of CNY150 at disembarkation as the service charge, which does not include the gratuity to the river guide. Meanwhile, there will be volunteer tips to the staff onboard, and you could choose to tip them by making your donations at the tipping box at the reception center.