Using Chinese in Emails

Is it considered acceptable to use pinyin in emails and if so, do the tine marks remain? Or is it not considered appropriate in Chinese culture to use pinyin and emails, but rather use proper Chinese characters?

你好Tom! The pinyin system is simply a phonetic system that is used to facilitate the learning of character pronunciation. It is not considered a means of communication in China and I don't think it would be a very good idea to use it in any situation unless you really have no other choice. I can sympathize that Chinese characters are not easy to learn. Even as a native Chinese speaker, growing up in China and learning the characters was not easy but the more your learn, the easier it gets. Keep up the hard work! - Lin Ping

One of the benefits of working for a large company is that we have many Chinese colleagues. I have asked some of them to send me emails in Chinese and just to copy me on communication sent to Chinese employees. I get to learn a lot this way about everyday (and not textbook) use of the language)