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Business in China #2 - Relationship Building

Prior to privatisation in China, businessthe appropriate time and you will grab
only existed in the form of State Ownedeverybody's attention and gain substantial
Enterprise (SOE). These were (and still are)respect.How to use chopsticks and understand
run by people with strong politicalmeal  etiquette
backgrounds and relationships, usually
connected by family ties to someone in theThis involves practice beforehand. Using
government. This sort of closedchopsticks is the first step of eating
organisational structure gave no opportunityetiquette and conveys the message to the
for its employees to be involved in anyChinese that you are willing to learn and
decision-making processes. Often,accept their way of living. There are two
principle-based leadership was substantial tokinds of chopsticks - disposable (wooden) and
motivate staff to be productive, although thethose used at banquets (made of plastic, jade
extent of government financial supportor polished wood). The latter are quite
available meant that SOEs frequently didn'tdifficult to use to eat the peanuts and small
need much in the way of business knowledge orbits, so common in Chinese cuisine, so make
understanding of the market. Success wassure you practise with these.When dishes are
based rather on good relationship building -brought to the table, wait for your
which effectively meant getting governmentcounterpart to start eating or at least
financial support.With the boom of jointinvite you to help yourself. Fish is always
venture in the late 80s and early 90s,taken by the highest ranking person seated at
foreign investors started sending their ownthe table. They usually get the fish cheeks
managers to interact with the SOE businesstoo - the best part of the fish.When drinking
culture. They were given great packages astoasts, your cup should be held at a lower
incentives to compensate for hard locallevel than your counterpart's. That way you
living conditions. In the 13 years I haveshow respect. If they attempt to say cheers
been living in China, I have heard stories,with their glasses held lower than yours,
too numerous to mention, of foreign managersdon't fall for it, it is just a
attending hundreds of banquets and gettingtest.Waitresses will keep refilling your
drunk with government officials, while theglass while you are talking. While
translators took over the communicationconversation continues, tap your index and
channels. Most of the time they would have nomiddle finger twice on the table, which
idea of what was going on, other than thatsimply means 'Thank you'. This custom is
they were expected to drink vast quantitiesexplained by the legend of an emperor, who
of alcohol, which somehow or other bridgeddecided to mingle with his people in
the gap between the two cultures. The maindisguise. He swapped clothes with his servant
criteria for foreigners to be successful inand watched as officials focussed all their
this business arena were knowledge of theattention on his servant, believing him to be
following:1. How to recognise who is athe emperor. When the servant, dressed as
decision  makeremperor, was offered tea the true emperor in
servant's clothes had to serve him. To
2. How to impress Chinese counterparts bypreserve the disguise, without compromising
speaking  a  few  Chinese  phrasesthe respect due to his emperor, the servant,
dressed as emperor, tapped two fingers on the
3. How to use chopsticks and understand mealtable to denote bowing with respect to the
etiquettereal emperor.How to 'fake' drinking (and not
get  drunk)
4. How to 'fake' drinkingHow to recognise
who  is  a  decision  makerThe easiest way is secretly to pour water
into your cup, since you will be challenged
All banquets are served on round tables andto drink baijiu (white spirit). This lethal
there is no obvious distinguishing mark, tospirit has a strong taste and is 50%-70%
indicate where the main guest is seated.alcohol. While nobody is watching fill your
However there are a few give-aways. Look outcup with water and make sure it is always
for  these  clues:full. Initiate constant refills of
everybody's drinks and you will soon gain the
- The guest of honour is most likely to betitle of 'Lao Han' (honourable Chinese). An
facing the door (so they can see when the newalternative is quickly to dispose of the
dishes  are  brought  in).contents of your cup over your shoulder as
you bring it close to your mouth. Make sure
- Fish is the sign of prosperity and athere is nobody watching and that there is
banquet is likely to include a fish dish. Thenobody standing behind you! Baiju is always
head of the fish will be placed facing thedrunk down in one go unless it is mentioned
person  of  highest  status.otherwise. It is a good idea to fake being
slightly drunk too, in order to avoid
- The counterpart will be seated directlyarousing any suspicions.And remember, enjoy
opposite.the meal, be prepared to eat intestines,
turtles, snakes and drink snake blood and
- The people seated at the right and leftbile without showing any disgust - these
hand of the person of highest status are thedelicacies are believed to improve your
two next most important decision makers.Howmanhood. If you are a woman, you are more
to impress Chinese counterparts by speaking alikely to be forgiven the odd lapse and at
few  Chinese  phrasesleast won't be under so much pressure to
drink heavily. In this case, you should make
The Chinese language consists of phrasessure that you are accompanied by a Chinese
that are called 'chengyu', the nearestperson of higher position in your company,
interpretation of which, would be - proverbs.who is prepared to take over the drinking
They usually have four characters and have apart of the evening, which is so crucial in
whole story behind them to support theestablishing good business
meaning that you want to express. There arerelationships.Copyright 2006 Dalida
dictionaries with a selection of the mostTurkovicDalida Turkovic - Master Coach and
frequently used chengyu, an essential part ofMaster NLP Practitioner has lived and worked
your library. Make sure you use a chengyu atin China since 1990.



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