Chinese people are very interested in the age of others because, it is related to the different traditional formalities that apply according to age.

Chinese customs use age as a basis for defining the relationship between people. When people of different age meet they can follow the custom of deciding how to interact with each other. This is why it is important to find out a person’s age as the 1st step towards figuring out how to treat them. So it’s not surprising there are many different ways to ask one’s age in China.

The zodiac used in China is a unique way of meaning the years because it uses 12 Chinese Zodiac sign; it helps to guess their age. Asking their Zodiac sign is a rather subtle and tactful method of asking a person’s age. A more direct approach is to ask what year a person was born but, it is not as blunt as asking, “How old are you?” Those who have been to college often use another method by asking “What year did you graduate?” This is a much more tactful way to ask the age. Typically, Chinese people graduate from high school and start college at 18 then graduate 4 years later. It’s obvious that age is important to the Chinese people.