The Proposal...

Most Chinese weddings were more of a joining of two families instead of the actual joining of the bride and groom, and therefore most marriages were arranged by the parents. Apparently, the grooms family gives the brides family small gifts to see how the brides family feels about the match. If these gifts are accepted, and the family's both feel good about each other, the date and time of the girls birth is placed on an ancestral altar for three days. I suppose that if nothing such as family quarrels or loss of property happens, then they take the date and time of the girls birth to an astrological expert to make sure that the match is good, and if it is, then the brides family takes the same procedure. If all goes well and both the family's feel good about the match, then the grooms family will give the brides family a 'grand gift.' This is a formal occasion where the families both give their blessing. This 'grand gift' might consist of money inside of a red envelope (usually consisting of many nines because nine represents 'forever' in the Chinese culture) and items like tea, "double happiness cake," pair of male and female poultry, sweetmeats and sugar, or maybe wine and tobacco. Tea is an important part of the gift because it a couple should have as many descendants as the tea leaves, and the total items of gifts should be an even number. And after this point, its time to start planning the wedding :)

Sources: http://www.chcp.org/wedding.html#proposal
http://www.chinabridal.com/etiquette/proposal.htm