Travel in China-Chinese Culture

[diancangshan]

I. Cultural humility

Perhaps the most useful negotiation skills you can bring to a first meeting with potential Chinese business partners are humility and patience.

Humility is essential for the simple reason that the cultural landscape of the Chinese world is nothing like the direct, sign-on-the-dotted line culture of western business. Westerners often seek business in China out of a desire to get in on what could be the world's largest market or take advantage of cheap labor. While these are fine reasons for going to China, as starters they often interfere with the successful development of a business relationship.

Humility acknowledges that one does not know all the answers about a potential partner. Patience ensures the answers ' the right answers ' will come. Western business operates according to standard practices, published rates. Chinese business ' especially in its still evolving form ' comes with none of these reassurances. By carefully laying the groundwork, the businessperson will come to understand each situation and know each potential partner well, establishing a sound basis for a business relationship.

In practice, this means your first meeting or meetings may be more social occasion than negotiation session. But don't be fooled: This is as important as any formal meeting around a conference table.

Find a sponsor

At your first meeting, you will want to be sure to have ' for lack of a better word ' a "sponsor." This sponsor should be familiar with the people and places you hope to do business. In business dealings among themselves, Chinese rarely practice "cold calling," or arriving without a proper introduction. Neither should you expect to arrive and introduce your#. Your sponsor can do this, or make the necessary arrangements. He or she will be invaluable in helping you to navigate the often murky waters of business in China.

Why a sponsor? If you are negotiating a business deal in the U.S., you do not plunge in without knowing something about your prospective partners. References are commonplace. In the Chinese case, both parties to an agreement want to know and build relationships with one another ? and an intermediary is essential. Indeed, it would be extremely rare to arrange a meeting without at least a letter of introduction from someone your potential partners will trust. They want to know: Who are you? What is your business? And more importantly: Do you have an existing good relationship with someone they know, too? Will others speak well on your behalf?

You will almost never be able to meet a potential Chinese partner and immediately begin discussing the details of a proposed contract. Instead, those discussions may follow a meal, or even re-adjourn another day ? probably over another meal!

Expect Ambiguity

Especially at the beginning, you will find your# operating under a cloud of uncertainty and ambiguity. You may not be in complete control of your meeting schedule, for example. And you may be unsure if the relationship is taking root. This is where patience is essential.

You can help your# before you begin seeking business with the Chinese by learning as much as you can about China and the Chinese way of thinking. You can read, study the language, and get to know Chinese and their culture through personal experience ? even among Chinese Americans. Plan to allow your# some time for travel before you start negotiations. At the very least, it will provide you with common topics of conversation during initial meetings with your potential partners. Only after you do these things should you try your hand at business.

Of course the most effective approach by far is to spend time in China (or wherever you hope to do business, such as Hong Kong or Taiwan or Vancouver). A Chinese saying, paraphrased, warns that if you truly want to know the mountains, you must live in the mountains. At the very least, you should do a bit of climbing to acclimate your# to the road ahead.

II. Lunch with the Mayor

A group of visiting economic development officials from an eastern U.S. state is visiting a small village on the Yangtze River in China's booming coastal province of Jiangsu.

Lunch is served at a round banquet table in a private room at the town's lone hotel/restaurant, which was developed several years ago by the municipality's largest enterprise -- the village it# -- to attract foreign business. The mayor and other local officials are there. A parade of exotic (and expensive) dishes begins appearing on the table ? fish, pork, seafood, vegetables and a few dishes the visitors have never seen or tasted ? eel, tripe, turtle, snake.

The local officials speak glowingly about the exotic dishes ? and wait, increasingly impatiently, for the guests to reach with their chopsticks. There is a moment of tension. Finally, the mayor offers the eel to the leader of the visiting delegation.

"No thank you," he replies. Tension inches up a notch. Then one of the guests announces they are "vegetarians." It sounds almost as if they have rehearsed their response to the possibility of meeting strange foods.

Trouble already

The conversation, or what little there had been, halts. This fledgling relationship is in trouble already.

Why?

The American visitors knew (or should have known) that unusual foods might be part of their business lunch. Their response ' to reject their host's offer ' was ill- advised. They did not fully comprehend that such a meal is one of the subtle rituals of relationship building that are essential when doing buisiness in China.

The visitors may not have understood that the Chinese officials had prepared a special meal with exotic (and probably expensive) dishes, to show good will and respect to their guests. By refusing the special foods, for whatever reason, they were failing to return the good will and "losing face" for their host.

If you expect to face a situation like this, the most simple advice is to be ready for it. If you are squeamish about strange foods, do all you can to get a taste of China's exotic dishes ahead of time (and that doesn't mean American-style Chinese food from the China Palace down the street). If you have time to travel in China before you begin your business meetings, try to taste the local specialties where you go. If you must do your preparation back home, find out where the Chinese-Americans in your community like to eat and go there on a weekend day, when the kitchen works extra hard to satisfy their fellow immigrants -- the toughest customers. At the very least, read a good guide book or a Chinese cookbook.

And use common sense. You can show respect for your host by accepting his offer of an unusual food. What happens next depends on the situation: You may be able to politely leave the food on your plate or take just a small taste. (If it is a particularly fancy table, you may be happy to find your server will constantly be removing your plate to make room for the next dish.) Your host may even understand your reluctance to taste. But having accepted the food, you will have avoided difficulty. The most important thing is not to flat-out reject the offer.

Drinking with the Chinese

Another potential minefield for westerners is toasting. This is the centerpiece of a formal Chinese meal and you can help build your relationship by taking part. Your hosts may offer you a choice of drinks -- beer, cognac, a Chinese white liquor such as Mao Tai, or perhaps even grape wine. But wait: Before you choose one, it's best to feel out your host, who may already have a beverage in mind. Express an unfamiliarity with the drinks and ask your host to choose. (And hope he does not choose Mao Tai.)

Your meal will be considerably more fun (in more ways than one) if you participate in toasting. But while refusing exotic foods may not be advisable, in this situation, you may have an easier way out. If you do not wish to drink, you can decline by saying you don't drink at all. Or you can say you have an "allergy." Ask for a glass of fruit juice. A word of warning: You will find it much harder to decline a drink if you have already sipped a bit with your hosts. If you don't want to drink too much, don't accept any drink at all and you'll be off the hook.

Even if you do not drink, by all means participate in the toasting, which will go around the table, usually two people at a time toasting and showing respect for one another. The most crucial moment of the meal may well be when the ranking representative of your potential partners raises his glass to you. Be prepared to offer a toast in kind, with words that will show deference and demonstrate your worthiness as a member of a new partnership.

A couple of more points about drinking. First, when a table full of people at a Chinese banquet drinks, they usually all drink the same thing. Do not expect a server to take orders for several different kinds of beer and liquor. Your host will usually order the beverages (and the food, for that matter). And second, at a formal meal such as this, do not expect to sit down and begin sipping your drink by your#. Instead, you must toast or be toasted in order to sip.

Don't be afraid to toast your host. In fact, that is among the most important items on your agenda at this meal. If you have an opportunity to refill glasses, do so. Be prepared for continuous toasting with individuals at the table. If you're thirsty, then toast someone. Raise your glass no higher than your host's ? preferrably lower. If the liquor is expensive, note this.

If you remember all these tips, you will "give face" to your hosts and start your relationship off on the right foot. Try to pick up the visual and verbal cues during the eating and drinking ? you will earn respect if you do so. And have fun!

[julian1984]

Thanks for the information.

[girdhar]

Thank you very much for your valuable tips,I would remember them while traveling to China.