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Red China
The color red is a particularly important one in Chinese culture.
The Method to the Madness
Green for go, red for stop: we all know the drill. Not only that but we know to look both ways before crossing the street.
Picking Up the Bill
In China, it’s customary for the host to pick up the entire bill. That’s true at family dinners, business dinners, and dinners out with friends.
Holding Hands
The Chinese culture has a very different perception of casual touch than does the West.
A Picture of Wedded Bliss
Out of the corner of your eye you spot a woman in full white wedding gown and veil standing by the waves, accompanied by a grinning groom in a crisp suit and a manic photographer with a massive camera pushing and pulling the couple into poses every which way…
The Split Pants Scene
Diapers. Most Western people would consider them an indispensible, if disposable, part of child rearing. Not so in China. Here, child rearing might refer to the constant visibility of baby bottoms.
Cheers Low To Give Face
Beckoning
Online dictionaries define ‘Guanxi’ as the basic dynamic in personalized networks of influence. Somehow this Chinese pinyin Romanization is far more complicated than “networking” or “relationships”. Although many Westerners find themselves confused by Guanxi and the role it plays in Chinese business, it has been widely acknowledged that one can hardly get things easily done without understanding this unique feature of the nation who have lived here for over five thousand years.
Selling to Chinese consumers is very different from selling to consumers in any other country. Unique local traditions and cultural values have a strong influence on the behaviour, thoughts, and buying habits of local consumers.
China is now a member nation of the World Trade Organization, and its regulatory standards have changed considerably in thirty years. These new regulations tend to favor, for the first time, Wholly Owned Foreign Enterprises over joint ventures.
China first opened its doors to foreign investment in the 1980s with the establishment of the first Special Economic Zones in Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shantou and Xiamen. Since then many other SEZs have been opened, and a number of other designations have been created to encourage different types of investment.
“Ru xiang sui su” (入乡随俗) is an ancient Chinese saying that means, “When in a village follow the locals.” More appropriately, the equivalent saying in English might be “When in China, do as the Chinese.” This is just generally good advice for travellers, but it is particularly important for business travellers and international businessmen.
No one can predict what will happen during the operation of a business, so crisis preparation is quite important. Chinese business professionals use many of the same techniques Westerners do...
Maintaining good guanxi is essential in China because successful business depends on it. The concept of guanxi can be loosely translated as connection or relationship.
Navigating the world of business relations in China requires a nuanced understanding of Chinese values and history. In this article, we will explore how this understanding ...
The world is changing.
Doug gets stared at.
Asking for directions in China isn't easy...even if you speak Chinese.
The Forbidden City is the largest palace compound in the world, and one of China’s must-see attractions.
Based on an idyllic description in one of China’s great classic novels, Grand View Garden lives up to its name.
The Old Summer Palace is the ruins of the once magnificent residence and extensive gardens of the Qing emperors.
The emperors of this dynasty got a lot of buildings constructed, repaired as well as restored.
The Yi call themselves the Panduo. They are also called a number of other names - Nosu, Misa, Lasu, Luoluo, Sani, Axi etc. - depending on where they are.
Uyghurs call themselves Uyghurs, a word meaning "unity" in the Uyghur language. Uyghurs are the descendants of the Dingling and Tieles tribes, nomads who mingled and merged in the third century BC. During the 8th and 9th centuries the Uyghurs ruled a vast Central Asian empire.
On Chengdu Heavenly Mountain there lived a tribe of great giants, able to fight tigers barehanded and win every time so great was their strength and fighting prowess. Their strongest and largest was called Kuafu, who some say was the son of Shennong. His strength, size and speed were truly amazing to behold and he was a wise and just leader loved by his people. He was held in great esteem all across the heavens.
The Broken Compass
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