While you are talking to a Chinese person, you will find him/her nodding to what you have said. The gesture will incur the misunderstanding because nodding usually conveys the message of approval to what the speaker has said to most peoples of the world.
However, in China, nodding does not always carry the same meaning as most peoples assume. On most occasions, nodding simply suggests that the listener is listening. The Chinese people (except close friends or lovers) seldom have eye contacts when they are talking to each other. If you stare at the speaker in a conversation, you will be regarded either as challenging his/her authority or to be having some evil intention, thus being disrespectful.
Therefore, to keep the conversation going, nodding serves as an indicator that “I’m listening”.
Editor: Wen Yi
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