老生常谈，陈词滥调cut and dried, cliché
礼尚往来Courtesy calls for reciprocity.
留得青山在，不怕没柴烧Where there is life, there is hope.
马到成功achieve immediate1 victory; win instant success
名利双收gain in both fame and wealth
茅塞顿开be suddenly enlightened
没有规矩不成方圆Nothing can be accomplished2 without norms or standards.
每逢佳节倍思亲On festive3 occasions more than ever one thinks of one s dear ones far away.
It is on the festival occasions when one misses his dear most.
谋事在人，成事在天The planning lies with man, the outcome with Heaven. / Man proposes, God disposes.
弄巧成拙be too smart by half; Cunning outwits itself.
拿手好戏masterpiece
赔了夫人又折兵throw good money after bad
抛砖引玉a modest spur to induce others to come forward with valuable contributions; throw a sprat to catch a whale
破釜沉舟cut off all means of retreat；burn one‘s own way of retreat and be determined4 to fight to the end
抢得先机take the preemptive opportunities
巧妇难为无米之炊If you have no hand you can"t make a fist./ One can"t make bricks without straw.
千里之行始于足下a thousand-li journey begins with the first step--the highest eminence5 is to be gained step by step
前事不忘,后事之师Past experience, if not forgotten, is a guide for the future.
前人栽树,后人乘凉One generation plants the trees in whose shade another generation rests.
One sows and another reaps.
前怕狼,后怕虎fear the wolf in front and the tiger behind/ hesitate in doing something
强龙难压地头蛇Even a dragon finds it hard to control a snake in its old haunt.
Powerful outsiders can hardly afford to neglect local bullies6.
