ties of China. Nobody knows exactly when the practice started in Europe. It is said that long long ago in Europe when people met，they showed their unarmed（无武器的）hands to each other as a sign of goodwill: As time went on and trade in cities grew rapidly，people in
cities began to clap each other’。hands to make a deal or to reach an agreement. This practice～later changed into shaking hands among friends on meeting or leaving each other. “Let’s shake（hands）on it” sometimes means agreement reached.
Do the Europeans shake hands wherever they go and with whomever they meet? No. Sometimes the Chinese abroad reach out their hands too often to be polite. It is really very impolite to give your hand when the other party， especially when it is a woman，shows little interest in shaking hands with you and when the meeting does not mean anything to him or her. Even if, for politeness，he holds out his unwilling hand in answer to your uninvited hand，just
touch it slightly. There is generally a misunderstanding（误解）among the Chinese that westerners are usually open and straightforward，while the Chinese are rather reserved（保守的）in manner. But in fact some people in western countries are more reserved than some Chinese today. So it is a good idea to shake hands with a westerner only when he shows interest in further relations with you.
64. In the old days in Europe，people put out their unarmed hands to eac