I have everything sorted for my trip now, flights, accomodation and visa. I have been busy studying for the last few weeks (I study Mandarin Chinese part time) and have finally finished all my exams which means I can now focus on my trip. I have two weekends remaining to go out and buy all the gifts before I leave for Chengdu.
I am not expecting many replies, because this seems to be the hardest subject to answer. But maybe brothers can share what they bought for their ladies on their first visit. I already know about what I will give to her parents (even if I do not meet them). I also know what general gifts I'll be buying (souvenirs from my country, etc). But I also wanted to buy a gift to show my friendship to my lady. The reason is because she has been extremely helpful to me. She will pick me up from the airport, she picked and booked my hotel in a part of the city close to her home so she can take me around easily. She will basically show me everything about Chengdu from tourist sites to local hang outs like tea houses, KTV, dance clubs, etc. I asked her if we can go and see the Leshan Giant Buddha together (and I was worried because she has probably already been there a million times before) and I would book a tour to go there because it is four hours away from Chengdu, but she insisted she would drive us there.
So I want to buy a gift as a token to show my appreciation for her kindness and friendship. She is a 30 year old Chinese woman. Does anyone have any ideas of something nice that such a person would appreciate? I was thinking of something like a necklace (maybe something Australian like opal, but I know little about this, will have to do research). But not something over the top (i.e. not too romantic...not at that stage of the relationship) or but also not too cheap/tacky. Thank you if anyone can share their own experience or has any ideas.