Greetings

The Chinese tend to use simple greetings as a daily standard. A simple “Hello” or “Ni Hao” does the trick if you know someone. Or even if you enter into a shop for the first time. All those are fine. If you see the same faces every day, such as a security guard where you are staying, a simple grunt-like head nod is sufficient. For more formal hellos, such as passing by a leader, the same with a slight hand raise acknowledgement is more than enough.

Contrary to belief, the Chinese do not bow down (as the Japanese do). They would see that as highly inappropriate as simply over the top. The only time you’ll see that kind of kowtowing is on TV when watching an ancient period drama, basically.

The only such times that you might see some severe kowtowing is images from ancient times when this would have been the norm in front of emperors and nobles, during a traditional style wedding (although the knees to the floor type of humbling is still too extreme in most cases) and at a religious temple where you’ll find floor cushions at the doorway in front of religious figures and effigies.