he zu huo ban

[Brian US]

I think the cultural debate also goes in line with past threads on how to deal with a Chinese boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse. I thought the best answer from members was to communicate with their spouse for who they are, and not really focus on what they are.

The same goes for business. I was talking to a Chinese woman that worked in Japan for the last ten years as a project manager for cell phone software. A Chinese supplier lied to her about how much inventory they had, which delayed the project. She still used the supplier, but the next order switched companies. You could debate about the cultural and ethical decision on the part of the supplier, or you could treat them like any other business partner. They lied and are not reliable.

[jbradfor]

@jbradfor: you are clearly not living in China right now!

You're right! Too many people insisting on speaking in English to me ;)

[xiaocai]

No no no, I don't feel bitter with all these typical Chinese behaviour things imposed on me at all just like you will not get pissed when I squat at the side of the road, assuming you are American and shouting hello to you, throwing rubbish in the street, getting my kid to urinate right in front of you while trying to find a bicycle to knock you down.

[Yang Rui]

I think the question of whether this is "typical Chinese" behaviour is probably not that useful go into. This seems like a case of the other side knowing exactly what they wanted out of a certain situation and Scoobyqueen (through no fault of her own) not realising from the start that they already had their exact aims in mind. This led to an unequal flow of information: Scoobyqueen, believing that most people are reasonable and flexible on this sort of thing, disclosed a lot of information on why she would not be able to make the 10am meeting, but in the end, because the other side was so rigid, being very open and frank turned out not to be the best way to go.

Because of cases like this, I am a lot less open with people than I used to be. I'm not sure whether this is a result of having lived in China, or from being more experienced in business. One can't assume that everyone has the same interests, or that everyone is considerate enough to take into account other people's schedules.

But that's quite a boring answer. To get more into the spirit of the thread, if they're typical Chinese, they probably had an appointment at a Chinese restaurant at 12:30, before a trip to the local Louis Vuitton/Hermes shop to buy 6 handbags each to use as bribes back home.They just need something proper-looking in their schedule for the morning.

[rob07]

Sounds to me like they were deliberately trying to see how far they could push you (unless they could have had the impression you were just flying in from Paris or somewhere like that so you had already had a night's sleep).

We are the only company in Europe offering the service they are after and they have more to gain than we do. The province they are representing is not particularly attractive to us.

If there isn't an easily observable market for the service, my guess is that they have no idea how much they should be paying for it, but want to avoid showing any weakness to a monopoly provider, try and test you out a bit, and if you put up with it maybe they can get the service a bit cheaper.

[amandagmu]

No no no. The most recent information is that it's iPads that are used as bribes. That's why the Apple store and Carrefour 家乐福 are always sold out and that's why every teenager around town seems to have one in his or her hands.

[xiaocai]

Really, I didn't know my used to be poor fellows are so much better off now that every teenager has got one iPad. That's something good to know. The sad thing is I don't know any of these typical teenagers.

[amandagmu]

Do you ever take the subway, bus, or train in Beijing (mind you, I did not say in China)? I nearly always end up sitting or standing next to someone with an iPad or iPhone.... I would never say this is what all "Chinese people" do. I try to avoid careless and worthless expressions such as that. Just as in the same token I hate it when people say (as I saw in another thread) that one should get out of Beijing and Shanghai and see "the real China." Truth of the matter is that the "Real China" is *both* in the cities and in the rural areas. I'm also not a moron and I know there is a huge gap between those who have all and those have nothing, and for the few in between who have a bit but not all (I guess that would be you?) you are much much rarer these days. Just an observation, really.

[xiaocai]

No I don't live in Beijing. But I have been to foreign countries and not all people I came across were friendly and well mannered. I did get hostile responses, some of which were clearly racial (Seriously, the "hello"s and broken English you get in China are no where near as bad as what I got, I guarantee). They were real. But I try not to categorise them as typical. Because I think it would be more appropriate for me to just look at these cases individually. Same, I will also really appreciate not to represented by someone I barely know about, not to mention their actions that I don't even remotely agree upon.

[anonymoose]

This topic doesn't seem to be going anywhere, other than causing trouble.

Every country has a different culture. How is difference in culture manifested? Obviously by the ways people behave differently. Therefore, even if it's politically incorrect to say so, there are some behaviours which are more typical of one country than another. Does it mean that everyone in the said country engages in that type of behaviour? No. Does it mean that noone in any other country engages in that type of behaviour? No. But I don't think anyone can deny that some behaviours are more prevalent in one country than another.

For many people who have grown up in one environment and then are suddenly exposed to a new environment, even small differences in behaviour become very noticable.

The pertinent issue seems not to be whether such and such a behaviour is typical of one country or not, but rather whether these things should be discussed on a public forum where it is liable to offend some people.

[xiaocai]

I don't think it is going any where either, as it started all wrong.

Wikipedia reckons that the suicide rate is higher in South Korea than in Italy. So is it just politically incorrect to say that suicide is a typical South Korean behaviour? I don't think so.

So yeah, I was stupid enough to get myself involved in this discussion. I will stop here. And I will try my best to stay away any thread about whether some behaviour is typically Chinese or not.

[Tiana]

So yeah' date=' I was stupid enough to get myself involved in this discussion. I will stop here. And I will try my best to stay away any thread about whether some behaviour is typically Chinese or not. [/quote']I think you're right. You can't win.

(Having said this, I think I'll be counting the minuses )