Chinese names appear in a different order than Western names. Mostly noticeably, a Chinese is written with the family name fist and the given name next. Chinese people commonly address each other with full names instead of given name (Especially for names consisting of two characters in total).

Family names are never used alone with any salutation. For instance, the basketball player Yao Ming should be formally addressed as “Mr. Yao”, not “Mr. Ming”, and informally addressed as “Yao Ming” instead of “Yao” or “Ming”.