Abstract: Social etiquette is the code of conduct in social interaction, and everybody should observe it. The Chinese and the American have different social backgrounds and customs, following different social etiquettes. Along with the further development of the reform and opening policy in China, we have increasing opportunity to communicate with Americans. We realize that understanding some American social etiquettes help us avoid making cultural mistakes and communicate successfully. This paper first defines the concept of social etiquette, and then analyzes the importance of understanding and observing the social etiquette. After that, it discusses the differences between Chinese and American cultures in social etiquette and explores the causes behind these differences. Hopefully this discussion can provide some material to facilitate the Sino-US cross-cultural communication.

Key words: social etiquette, Chinese, American, differences, causes

摘要：社交礼仪是人们在进行社会交往活动中大家共同遵守的行为规范。中国人和美国人有着不同的社会背景和风俗习惯，在社会交往活动中遵循各自不同的社交礼仪。随着中国改革开放的进一步深入，我们和美国人打交道的机会越来越多。我们意识到了解一些美国人生活社交礼仪可以帮助避免犯误解文化的错误，从而更好的与美国人沟通。

本论文首先指出什么是社交礼仪，在分析社交礼仪的重要性，然后再讨论中美社交礼仪文化的差异，并分析这种差异形成的原因，从而希望对中美跨文化交际提供交流的资料。

关键词：社交礼仪，中国，美国，不同，原因