...September 2012 Making Friends in China As with any culture to be successful in China socially, one needs to understand the manners and etiquettes that the culture follows. Many cultures have changed greatly over the centuries, but China’s remains very similar to its roots around the family and authoritarian. Unlike western cultures, much of the Chinese etiquette continues to be very rigid. Understanding and putting into practice the manners and etiquettes of Chinese culture will help a person to create new friendships, rather than enemies, and be accepted by more people within the country. These manners and etiquettes cover behavior in public, dining, conducting business, and even gift giving. In public Chinese people are very formal in their behaviors. Public displays of affection such as kissing, hugging, making eye contact, or hand holding are strongly discouraged; however, hand holding amongst friends of the same sex commonly occurs. Personal space is given very little concern within China, especially during national celebrations when most people go out, and the streets become very crowded from the largest cities to the smallest rural villages. People meeting will often shake hand and/or bow to each other, regardless of their acquaintance level. A Chinese person will typically avoid making eye contact. Making eye contact may be considered rude and signify anger or defiance. When meeting someone new Chinese people will often ask about a person’s age, marital status...
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...Loss of Face Among Chinese Businesspeople in Intracultural and Intercultural Business Interactions Peter W. Cardon and James Calvert Scott Abstract Problem: No systematic research has been conducted about loss of face in Chinese business culture. General research questions: What causes Chinese businesspeople to lose face when conducting business intraculturally and interculturally? Setting: People’s Republic of China. Participants: 34 Chinese businesspeople from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Methods: Structured open-ended interviews. Main findings: In intracultural business the major causes of loss of face were public criticism and rejection, with mild responses to loss of face except when subordinates caused superiors to lose face and sometimes when a peer caused another peer to lose face. In intercultural business the major causes of loss of face were foreigners’ arrogance, politics and international events, and foreigners’ criticism, with most responses to loss of face being minor. Recommendations: Recommendations are provided for businesspeople operating in the Chinese environment and for researchers conducting investigations about face in Chinese business culture. IS RESEARCH ABOUT LOSS OF FACE among Chinese businesspeople relevant for American business educators? “International business is an area of the business education curriculum that commands center stage in today’s global economy,” reported the National Business Education Association in...
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...Shan Zhou TD N Chinese culture The Chinese economic reform began in 1978,ever since then,China opened up to foreign investment,China's amazing economic growth for the past years was due to the cheap labour,large resources and huge quantity of production.With the increasing of economics, Chinese people were aware of the fact”made in China”couldn't bring this country to one of the top countries in the world as the ancient China uesd to be.So,China invested a lot of money into developing new technology.Only in the year of 2005,the country filed over 170,000 patents.The new identity”made by China”will change Chinese brands' image and change the Chinese manufacturing model to promote the economic growth. If your want to be successful for doing business in China,your have to understand Chinese culture.Many Chinese are quite superstitious,they use divination tool such as “Feng Shui”to juge whether they can purchase the business location or not. Because the bad”Feng Shui” could bring the misfortune.(They like to put some rare rocks or some animal status to promote fortune,if you saw something strange in their house,don't touch them,you could break the miracle of Feng Shui!) If you want to get along with Chinese people,you have to understand 3 main definitions: ‐''Guan Xi''‐Relationships or Connections ‐''Saving face'' ‐''Gift giving'' Chinese are tightly connected to one another through a relationship network.The sccussful ...
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...We can say, the events of tea in other countries in the world, directly or indirectly, are basically spread out from China. China is the homeland of tea, and tea have become the national drink. The Chinese tea ceremony thoughts is the fusion of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. The core of Chinese tea ceremony spirit is “harmonious” Scented Tea The tea made by mixing and aromatizing tea leaves with scented flowers It is produced mainly in Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces. Jasmine Tea:the most popular among scented tea :made from jasmine flowers.:The most well-known jasmine flower tea is produced in Fujian Province. Green Tea Benefits: It help people reduce their inner heat. It helps with anti-ageing. It prevents computer radiation and bad breath. Biluochun:a top-grade green tea from Dongting , Taihu，Wu County, Jiangsu Province Biluo Peak on Mountain Dongting “Terrifying aroma” Emperor Kangxi named it biluochun. Black Tea Benefits: It facilitates the fostering of oxygen gas in the human body. It warms the stomach. It helps with digestion. It is a most suitable choice in cold seasons. Most people in China are accustomed to drink plain tea without any additives. In European and Amercian countries, people like to drink tea with milk and sugar added. Black tea can be prepared as a cool beverage. The usual way is that: pour luke warm water over instant tea to make a strong liquid, then pour the liquid into...
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...Dara Murphy 112519063 Chinese Culture Essay: There are many different aspects to Chinese culture that make it so broad and interesting. I will be focusing mainly on the more modern features to the culture and how it has changed from the traditional culture. Chinese culture is one of the oldest cultures out there today. I personally find the culture as a whole very interesting and intriguing and I extremely enjoyed learning about the ancient culture that is still ever so prominent today. It consists of many old traditions that have been carried forward into the twenty- first century. Customs and traditions do vary as your travel through the many town villages and also through the twenty- two provinces. Some of the different aspects that make up the Chinese culture that I will be discussing in this paper are the Chinese Cuisine, The one child policy, Famous Chinese Festivals, Chinese Horoscopes, Superstitions, a little bit on the Chinese Arts and Music both traditional and modern. The one thing that everybody is very familiar with is Chinese food. Nearly every human being has experienced it. What I have personally realized that on a recent trip to China, the food couldn’t have been more different. Instead of the usual sweet and sour chicken I was presented with jellyfish and ducks feet. I experienced one of the four main types of Chinese cooking, Shandong Cuisine. It consists mainly of very rich proteins such as shark fin and white funguses. There are four main ways...
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...Introduction chinese culture Chinese culture is one of the world’s oldest and most complex. The area in which the culture is dominant covers a huge geographical region in eastern Asia with customs and traditions varying greatly between towns, cities and provinces. Important components of Chinese culture includes art,cuisine, festival and etc. People in the culture Identity Throughout history, many recognized ethnic groups have been assimilated into neighboring ethnicities or disappeared without a trace. At the same time, many within the Han identity have maintained distinct linguistic and regional cultural traditions. The term Zhonghua Minzu has been used to describe the notion of Chinese nationalism in general. Much of the traditional identity within the community has to do with distinguishing the family name. Values Most social values are derived from Confucianism and Taoism. The subject of which school was the most influential is always debated as many concepts such as Neo-Confucianism, Buddhism and many others. Reincarnation and other rebirth concept is a reminder of the connection between real-life and the after-life. In Chinese business culture, the concept of guanxi, indicating the primacy of relations over rules, has been well documented. Chinese Language The Chinese language (汉语/漢語 Hànyǔ; 华语/華語 Huáyǔ; 中文 Zhōngwén) is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees.[4] Originally the indigenous languages...
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...Chinese culture China has about five thousand years history which is a long period of time. The Chinese civilization was growing with these periods of time and it will continues greater than ever. Many wars and unhappiness were happening during this period. Although, the time has passed, the histories and the civilizations have not passed. These family virtues, serious, working attitudes, sense of justice and the great Confucian tradition have been deeply assimilated into the Chinese people. Some Chinese traditions are different from Mongolian’s. The Chinese culture has many special characteristics which are very interesting for people to learn. The family life is very important for every Chinese. Chinese families are very close-knit. Children tend to stay with their parents even after they get married and have children of their own, so that you often see three or four generations living under the same roof, unlike other cultures where the kids that have grown up try to get as far away from the parents as possible. However, everyone is well organized within this compact family each member of the family help each other when there is any problem and they will suffer together. The family life is quite different from Western’s. Deeply rooted in Chinese culture is a system based on ethics, morals, hierarchy and behavior. In the Mongolian culture, a sincere thank you or a thank you note is an acceptable way to extend appreciation. However, in China, a more tangible form of thank...
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...Culture is a common factor that makes actions of a given person or a group of people different from that of another group of people or individuals. It is primarily a system of shared beliefs, values, behaviors and objects. This paper will focus on two different cultures, Chinese and American, on the issue of parenting. The two different cultures have different aspects when it comes to parenting. Chinese and American cultures differ when it comes to parenting. American culture tends to complement a child and praise unlike Chinese who tend to criticize. There are main instances where Chinese Americans have been treated with a complimentary lifestyle in school but have a different culture of criticism when they are back at home. It is very confusing...
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...China has more than 4000 year’s history, and this long history has made China a unique culture that deeply impacts on China today. According to Brand China and “Harmonious and Integrated Culture” and the Building and Communication of China’s National Image, the authors both claim that Chinese traditional culture has shaped China’s national image. On the other hand, based on Neo-Confucianism and Chinese Business Culture, Chinese traditional culture also has impacted on Chinese business culture. Generally, Chinese traditional culture has impacted on current Chinese business practices, such as guanxi, face saving and so on. Moreover, as a result of influencing by Chinese traditional culture, negotiating process in China and related behaviors must be different from that of the rest of the world. Hence, knowing more about these special knowledge of negotiating in China would help people easier do business in China. As a Chinese student, those business practices that are influenced by Chinese traditional culture are very familiar for me. For face saving, it is exactly the same as the film The Interview by Sony shows that a few Chinese local governments might build a fake everyday-low-price grocery store which looks even better than Wholefoods to make higher level government officer think that the local people are very happy. On the other hand, during my daily life when I was in China, everyone are working on obtaining more guanxi. Guanxi seems like network in American, but it is more...
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...The Chinese culture is very different than the culture in the United States of America and business meetings require preplanning if they are going to be successful. * How should you handle the introduction, greeting, and handshaking? Although in the Chinese culture, a nod and slight bow is a general way of greeting, Chinese business men are comfortable with a handshake. Address the most Senior Chinese person in the room first, and introduce yourself as you shake hands. Remember that in the Chinese culture it is a sign of respect if they shake your hand softly and do not make eye contact. In Chine, the family name comes before the given name, and calling someone by his name is considered disrespectful unless you are close to the person. If the person’s name is Wang Lee, it is appropriate to address him as Mr. Want. If Mr. Wang is the chairmen of the organization, you would address him as Chairman Wang. (Chinese Business Etiquette, 2014) * How do you exchange business cards? Business cards are exchanged at every opportunity. Engraving your cards in gold and printing in Chinese on one side and English on the other side is encouraged. As with introductions, when you are exchanging business cards, remember to start from the senior most person in the meeting. When you receive a business card from a Chinese associate, accept it with two hands and read it before you place it in your pocket. (Chinese Business Etiquette, 2014) * How do you explain your position and...
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...Some of you have known more or less about Chinese food culture. Because of the species richness, Chinese food culture plays an important role in the world. Due to the large national territorial areas, climate and product mix, there are different kinds of food cultures in different provinces. Every dish has its own favor and none of them share the same taste. Take some of the distinctive dishes, Sichuan, Guangdong and Fujian, for example. First, Sichuang dishes are famous for its peppery taste. They focus on hot, peppery and savor food by using pepper, capsicum and shallot as the main materials. What’s more, they are famous for the hot pot, filling with different ingredients. Second come Guangdong dishes. They pay more attention to the cooking skills. They keep the original favor of the food with proper sweetness and salt. Also, they prefer the food with tender and slide taste, which means the food is filled with sweet smelling and delicious favor. All of these make Guangdong food “a best taste only in Guangdong”. Third, Fujian dishes are good at using seafood as their main original materials. Relying on frying and decocting, they mix the seafood with elaborate oil. Besides, they decorate the food to personalize their beautiful appearance. They are also famous for the distinctive “pickled” favor. Sometimes, they steam the food, which is charming and healthier, comparing with the fried. Although Chinese food can be found all over the world, the food actually made in China is the...
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...China In Chinese culture they believed the universe was split into two sections one being earth below and the other been heaven above. As opposites they formed and gave a sense of unity between them. They were each strong and powerful as individuals so there unity was very strong and powerful combined. For creation of the universe they projectile reproduction to conceive creation, in similar instances the Chinese thought that ideal opposites were light and darkne ss and when bought together formed creative energy. Dark and light were further created as matter and energy which became double natured but still united as one. These two opposites were called ying and yang and there oneness was named chhi. Chinese alchemy reached Alexandrea the symbol ying yang was transformed into the symbol known as the ouroboros.it is a snake with the front of its body and its head being red acting as the colour of blood and its tail and bottom half being dark representing the...
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...ESSAY Imagine we are walking on a crowded street in Japan; we could hardly differentiate a Japanese passerby from a Chinese passerby. An obvious reason fact for this is that both Japan and China mainland are within the same geographical area in which they are very much influenced by each other on their living lifestyles. Another reason for that is because Japanese and Chinese were interrelated in their history. In the first centuries A.D based on the Julian calendar, Japanese imported ranges of sources of ideas, production techniques and sets of material from China mainland. Stearns (2000) –‘Thus, the Japanese developed a very unique civilization from a blend of their own culture and a selective importation and conscious refashioning of the Chinese influences.’ The selecting and blending process of these two types of culture had thus resulted in the existence of both similarities and differences between them. Both Japanese and Chinese have identical features in their lifestyle, but they are very much differentiated in their diet as well as clothing. Since Japanese and Chinese are Asians, they inherited some similarities in their lifestyle in the aspect of collectivism, high-context culture and also high-power-distance which are believed to have an impact on communication as mentioned by Devito (2005). As a matter of fact, Japanese and Chinese, both practice the concept of collectivism, which can be said as a group work. Collectivism emphasizes on group goals, and success is...
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...Reflection Paper: “A Critical Analysis of the Chinese Thinking Process” What is repeatedly in the news and talked about at the universities during exchange semesters is the further development of the globalization and its consequences regarding the cultural diversity. The fact that different European or even North-American countries are visibly starting to merge their cultures is not what attracts the greatest attention, since “our” (western) thinking process works at least in its principles the same. The real difficulty for western cultures coming along with the globalization is the fact that we are merging also with a culture we do not understand intuitively. China with a current population of over one billion has shown an outstanding economic performance over the last years. Marting Jacques argues that the country that rules the world economically, defines the cultural basic principles. The performance of China over the last years leads to the assumption that the future dominating culture could not be the western, it could be the eastern (Helg, 2011). Therefore, we have to deal with the differences between these cultures as soon as possible to understand what potential change we could face in the near future. Within the Business area, the family area as well as in politics, China works differently than western countries. Whereas in the western business is about winning and pityless negotiation, the Chinese businessmen value honor and not letting someone loose his face as...
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...Shenwei Feng Professor Travis Asian Behavior and Thought 17 March 2016 Chinese Tea Culture Tea is a kind of drink. It is made from tea leaves, and steeped in hot water; then, you can drink it. It seems like coffee, but the taste and color of tea is different from coffee. From the color, tea can be divided by green tea, black tea, white tea, yellow tea and oolong. The color difference is because the way it is produced is different, but the functions of these teas are similar; all of them can detoxify and refresh. Due to the different origins of tea, tea can be divided into many levels. A good place can produce better tea, and there also is different tea from different areas. In China, most Chinese like to drink tea, especially the older. I did not like drink tea when I was a child, but when I grew up, I started to like the tea. When I was a child, I travelled with my family to go to Wu Yi Mountain. It was the earliest memory about tasting tea; even now I can recall some of the taste of tea. Because I was very young, I did not know what kinds of teas I tasted, but I could remember that I was most impressed by a taste of tea. This tea was very bitter when it came on my tongue, but when I drank some water after I tasted this tea, I felt the water was very sweet. This sweet was different from the sweet of candy, it made me comfortable and relaxed. Another tea was produced by the lotus leaf, and it could help people lose weight; but I could not taste it because I was a child...
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