Rose Giving Rules In China | How Many Should You Give To Seem Serious?

5 min readJun 7, 2021

Have you heard about China’s etiquette regarding the giving of roses?

Apparently, you can’t just give a girl any number of roses you want all willy-nilly. Every number has a meaning, especially if you’re giving it to women of Asian descent.

Giving roses to women correctly doesn’t even require you to pick out the most popular flowers or any type of flowers at all. You just have to pick red roses and then figure out your intentions by the number you give.

It’s confusing, we know. As if it wasn’t already baffling that every single flower has its own meaning, now the number you give has to have its own meaning too.

Most Asian women don’t really care but there are a few that know a thing or two about flower meanings, so you might want to at least take a gander at this article before you decide to give your Chinese girlfriend a gift.

1 to 10 Red Roses

If you do send red roses, a certain number will have a special meaning. Depending on what you want to convey to your girlfriend, you have to be careful in selecting the number. Each number has its own words to say so take note.

1 Rose — “I love only you. You, and only you, are in my heart.”
2 Roses — “In my mind, I just think of you and me.”
3 Roses — “I love you.”
4 Roses — “Promise of love.”
5 Roses — “No regrets with you.”
6 Roses — “I hope everything goes your way.”
7 Roses — “I feel happy when I’m with you.”
8 Roses — “I apologize. Please forgive me.”
9 Roses — “No regrets. Forever with you in love.”
10 Roses — “Perfect love.”

Granted, most of them say the exact same thing regarding love, but if you don’t want to mess up, follow the rules. There’s even a way for you to say sorry in roses. Just buy her 8 roses.

For special days like Valentine’s Day, go for the standard 3 roses that convey the most common words such as “I love you”. If you wish to add a bit to that to make it look like a pretty bouquet, you can do so by putting in types of small flowers that match the red roses. We suggest a bit of Baby’s Breath, since its white color won’t clash with the red.

11 to 20 Roses

Here are other convoluted yet sweet ways in showing your love for your woman, as well as another way to say sorry and even break things off on good terms.

11 Roses — “Single-minded focus on your happiness. Concentrating on you with all my heart and soul.”
12 Roses — Soul connection.
13 Roses — A secret admirer.
14 Roses — this is a very unlucky number for the Chinese. Contrary to the west that regards the number 13 as the number of bad luck, in China, it’s 14. Avoid giving her 14 flowers.
15 Roses — “I’m sorry.”
17 Roses — Happy ending and leaving each other on good terms.
18 Roses — Sincere heart.
19 Roses — “Looking forward to being with you.”
20 Roses — “Forever loving you with an unchanging heart.”

21 to 100 Roses

Some of them don’t really convey love. They’re just ways to tell a person something without the need for words. That’s IF the person they’re giving it to knows the implications of roses.

21 Roses — “You are my best love.”
22 Roses — In love to the end. Double 2 is very popular in China, because a couple is 2 people, therefore double happiness since the number has two 2’s.
24 Roses — “I miss you. I’m thinking about you.”
25 Roses — “Good luck.”
30 Roses — “Our love goes beyond words.”
33 Roses — “I will always love you for many years/for very long.”
36 Roses — “My heart belongs to you.”
44 Roses — “I promise my steady love for you.”
50 Roses — This is similar to 5. “No regrets.” Though it isn’t necessarily about love or confessions. If you want to tell her you don’t regret loving her, just give her 55 Roses.
55 Roses — I love you with no regrets.
56 Roses — “My love.”
60 Roses — “Our love is very steady, strong and stable.”
66 Roses — “True steady love.” or “Good mood.”
77 Roses — “Destiny brought us together.” For if you want to be poetic.
88 Roses — “In my heart, I want to make up to you.”
99 Roses — “I want to be with you forever.”
100 Roses — “I love you 100%!”

101 to 999 Roses

When a man buys a woman flowers in hopes of proposing to her, he would usually send 101 roses. Even though the number that specifically says “Will you marry me?” is 108, giving 101 instead allows the woman to answer back.

If the girl is willing to marry him, she would send 1 rose back to the boy.

101 Roses — “You are my only love.” Which makes it the perfect number for proposing.
108 Roses — Another alternative, since it says “Will you marry me?”
123 Roses — Freedom and Love.
144 Roses — “I love you every day, every month, every year, every century.”
365 Roses — An absurd number, but still has its own meaning. “I think of you every day. I love you every day of the year.”
999 Roses — An even more absurd number, but with the meaning of “Infinite love”. If you want to flex on her and tell her you are serious about how you feel about her, then don’t hold back and surprise her with this number.

Yes, it is a lot to remember, but China isn’t China without its traditions and wonderful culture. Being able to know the rose-giving rule will ultimately impress her though so just tough it out. It will be worth it.

Why Red Roses?

Because red roses signify love and burning desire in not just China, but also around the world. It isn’t just Asian women that appreciate a red rose or two. A lot of women will be pleasantly surprised if their man would suddenly surprise them with a single red rose. It is the universal way of telling her you adore her with all your heart.

Maybe you don’t really have to go through all the trouble of buying her 365 flowers just to tell her you love her every day. A single rose will do the trick. Flowers are pretty, yes, but the mystery in their meanings don’t really compare to how a man feels for his woman.