Traveling to China presents several challenges. Yes, there’s the jet lag and the language barrier, but the thing that gets to most first-timers is the culture shock. From the moment your plane lifts off, you may start to feel like things are a bit upside-down. For example, if you’re flying a Chinese airline, you’ll be likely told to turn off your phone the moment you lift off the tarmac. No, not airplane mode—Chinese regulation requires phones to be off in-flight, so flight attendants might aggressively tell you to turn your phone off. Like off off. That makes for one long flight if you were planning on listening to music on your phone.

The culture shock continues once you touch down, too. Many of the etiquette taboos with which Americans are indoctrinated seem to go out the window, like: Don’t slurp your soup! Don’t ask personal questions to strangers! And whatever you do, don’t invade someone’s personal space.

Here, some quick and easy do’s and dont’s for your next trip to China, to help temper that inevitable dose of “where am I?”

Do take your shoes off before entering someone’s home. Most homes will have guest slippers—slip those on instead.

Don’t give someone white flowers. They are for funerals. No exceptions.

Don’t give clocks as gifts. Especially to the elderly. It’s the functional equivalent of telling someone that their days are numbered.

Do give an appropriate greeting. If you are meeting someone in a business context, shake hands and smile. If it is someone older than you with some sort of rank, you may do a very slight bow from the shoulders (as opposed to a full-fledged bow from the waist) as a sign of respect.

Do accept business cards with two hands. It’s a sign of respect. Glance at it for a few seconds as if reading it over—even if you aren’t— and put it away in a chest pocket or a card holder, never in your back pocket.

Do let elders take the lead at dinner. They sit first and get served first, and pour is always poured for them first. Do not start eating before they take their first bite.

Do slurp your soup. It’s a sign of appreciation for the chef’s cooking. It is also not uncommon to let out a (gentle) burp.