Tipping in China

If you are traveling to China, you may be wondering how much of a tip to leave and how tipping there compares with other countries you have visited. Hence, the Conde Nash Traveller Tipping Guide (which is available on the Conde Nash website and is also downloadable in pdf format) offers a very handy and useful reference guide for tipping in more than 35 countries around the world.

According to the guide, travelers visiting China should note that no tipping is generally the rule at many hotels. In fact, nicer hotels in China will add a compulsory service fee of 10-20% and hence, nothing beyond that is expected or even allowed. Furthermore and as a tour agent explains in the guide, tipping has a tendency to unbalance a hotel’s operations but its almost impossible for a hotel to stop the practice. Hence and if you want to leave a tip, do so quietly and out of sight from employers. In addition, you should remember that most tour guides in China receive commissions for taking you to tacky souvenir shops and hence, they don’t need to be tipped.

Nevertheless, tipping is customary in some places such as massage houses where a tip of about 10–30 yuan per massage is expected (except in hotel spas where a tip is already included in the fee) and for luggage porters who should receive a tip of 10 yuan per bag (although tourists will generally leave twice that amount).