How to write a letter in Chinese

I've noticed on my Sitemeter that I get a lot of hits through "how to write a letter" in Chinese, so after putting it off for a while, I did some intrepid Googling (in Chinese, of course) and found that the following is the general format for formal letters, like those written to a potential business associate or your estranged father:

[Your name/company name]
[Street address]
[Telephone]

2009年7月12日
[Recipient name] 女士 or 小姐 (Ms.)/先生 (Mr.) (女士 is considered more formal than 小姐, but I don't think it really matters, unless you want to be extra, extra polite)
[Title]
[Company name]
[Address]

親愛的(dear) [recipient's surname] 女士/小姐/先生:

[Body of letter]

謹此 (Sincerely),
[or]
肅此 (Respectfully),

[Your name]
[Your title]

I work in a pretty informal field, so most of the letters I get (that aren't press releases) follow this format:

Dear Catherine (people often write this in English),
or
Dear舒小姐 (combination of English and Chinese, with my surname and Miss in Chinese),
or
愷凌 (just my Chinese given name),

[Body of letter in Chinese]

謝謝你/您!(Thank you!),
or
Best regards (In English),
or
Sincerely (In English),
[Their name in Chinese or in English]

I don't know if people use English in their letters to me because I am American and work for an English-language newspaper, or if it is the fad here for informal letters.

Press releases I get often follow this form:

親愛的媒體朋友您好 (Dear members of the media)
or just
親愛的媒體朋友 (minus the 您好, which is kind of redundant because it means "hello")

[Body of press release]

[PR person's name]
[Title]
[Phone number]
[Address]

Two things to remember: a) use 您 (nín, the polite form of "you") instead of 你 when writing a formal letter and b) don't write the letter in red ink. It basically means that you want your letter recipient to die. It's considered rude even if they aren't superstitious. Young people are a bit more lax about this, but it still gives the impression that you didn't think they were worth walking three meters down the street to the nearest 7-Eleven and buying a blue or black ink pen.

Here's some business card etiquette: a) give and take business cards with both hands, with the information facing the recipient, b) after receiving a business card, take a couple seconds to read it like it's the most fascinating piece of literature you have ever laid eyes on and c) don't shove it in your back pocket like it's a dirty tissue (put it neatly inside a business card holder or your wallet).

Once again, younger people are sometimes a bit more relaxed about business card etiquette, so if a 20-something hands you his or her business card with one hand, don't be offended. It doesn't mean they are disrespecting you. It just means they are a hipster. People working in a more relaxed environment often skip the two-handed presentation, too.

Like I said, I work in a relatively informal industry, so I don't have a lot of practice writing formal letters. I did a lot of research for this post, but please remember that if you are using the templates above to help you compose a letter, I am not responsible for any business mishaps/weird looks/slaps/other misfortunes resulting from the use of the forms above. In other words, feel free to send me abuse via the e-mail address at right, but don't sue me.

If my format is off or if there is a better way to compose such a missive, please let me know in the comments. That having been said, I hope this has been helpful!