In English the word ‘welcome’ is ‘well' plus ’come' which means ‘come well'.  I say ’You come well!“ to the guest that is a kind attitude to his or her visit. 'It is good if you come!"  Or 'Your coming or visiting is a good thing!"

But in Chinese we tell the same meaning in a quite different way!  欢迎!  The character 欢（huan, the first tone)  means ‘happily’ or ‘warmly’;  迎(ying, the second tone) is ‘to meet".  I feel happy since you are coming here！  Chinese people are always so hospitable with the kind words. 

Now you see, ’welcome‘ is used to describe the guest while 欢迎 shows the host's attitude to the visitor. 

Judging from the difference between ’welcome‘ and ’欢迎‘, we can sense that Chinese and foreign  friends do thinking in different ways on many occasions.  It was funny when I offered a detailed analysis on some special word in the language class in the past year. 

It's lucky to share my ideas with reader friends through Chinadaily. You are welcome!