how to open a conversation?

Hello people,
I am victor from shanghai,i have been learning english for a long time…but still confused about many things in speaking english.i really wanna know that what kind of topics could be the better ones to open a conversation?you know,when we meet some guys at the first time,we should try to aviod several topics such as politics,religions,abortion,gays and lesbians and so on,but what are some of the safe topics of an openning conversation?
Any replies from anybody will be appreciate!

Its very simple.
All you have to do is to offer “Incentive”, such as:
“Free air ticket to Shang-Hai, and free stay in my appartment for 3 day”.
All candidates with good spoken English send your qualification with photo, Please.

how can i send my photo

Hello victor_zheng you have made a mistake “avoid” not “aviod”;
and Manglish also made a mistake in spelling,”apartment” not “appartment”!

Hi, Effie,
Thank you for your correction.
Its my type=mistake without spelling check before sending out. Sorry for that.
However, it will not attract your attention if without such mistake. Ahaha….,
My sincere appreciation to Effie and all readers.

It depends on where you meet them, and how casual the situation is.
The joke is the safest thing to talk about is the weather! So you can always talk about that.
If you are talking to a foreigner, it is pretty safe to ask them where they are from. (Better to ask, and not assume where they come from. A Canadian, for example, might get insulted if you think they are American).
Asking what someone does for a living (what is their job). Or if they are a student, and asking what they study.
A good question might be what they find hardest about speaking or learning English! Even someone who is a native English speaker would be able to answer that!
It might be a nice way to break the ice, because you are learning English, and you can share a conversation about trying to learn.
Good luck!
-Holly