What does a green hat symbolize in Chinese culture?

What does a green hat symbolize in Chinese culture?

Norine Dresser (Writer) gives expert video advice on: What is considered inappropriate attire in other cultures?; Why would I need to remove my shoes before going into someone's home? and more...

The idea about the green hat being taboo is quite interesting. What it means is if you wear a green hat than your spouse has been cheating on you. A wonderful example of how that went awry was with a company with a branch in Taiwan. The company here in Los Angeles was entertaining the visiting members from Taiwan. It happened that they arrived in time for St. Patrick's Day. So the host family said "Oh well we'll do something real American for them. We'll have an introduce-them-to-St. Patrick's Day party. And of course, you know, Americans treat St. Patrick's Day even more so than in Ireland. So they had the shillelaghs, green beer, and they served corn beef and cabbage. Then as everyone entered they gave them a green hat. Well the guests, you know, were very uncomfortable about it but they still put them on because they were guests and they wouldn't say, "I can't wear this." So they wore them and the hosts thought they had done a terrific job of entertaining their international guests. But then, a short time later they received a reprimand that these folks went back and really complained bitterly because they didn't want anyone to think that their spouses were cheating on them. Well, no one would know about it from here, but it's a symbol. Now I don't know if the idea is if you really wear a green hat when it happens. I don't think so. I think it's an expression. So if you wear it, you know it doesn't matter, it's a really fixed notion about green hats meaning your spouse is cheating.