Stewart Lee Beck's Blog, page 8
September 13, 2014
Brainstorming in the New China – 3 Key Insights
How to overcome cultural and generational differences to maximize your team’s overall creativity.
A mix of generations and cultures in today’s China makes creative endeavors all the more interesting. The traditional perception of Chinese being more reserved and Westerners being more participative is no longer valid. And while there are plenty of posts out there on brainstorming techniques, we’d like to explore how the fast changing relationship between China and the rest of the world is drivi...
September 7, 2014
Moon Cake Festival – Giving The Bitcoin You Can Eat
When new to a culture, it’s easy to miss certain holidays. Not this one. It’s everywhere. If mooncakes were bullets, we’d all be dead.
Get your mooncakes – hot, cold or frozen! Traditional mom & pop shops, 24×7 convenience stores, internet pop-ups, office gift packs, breakfast diners, even Starbucks and Haagen-Dazs all conspire to ensure nobody goes mooncake-less before, during and after this holiday. For several days, you’ll have them for breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, late night sn...
August 29, 2014
Chinese Dinner Etiquette – To Pay Or Not To Pay? (That Would Be Hamlet’s Question In China)
Want to live happily ever after (and keep your job) dining with bosses, clients, coworkers, family and friends? Learn how to wrestle for the check!
If you’ve been in China long enough, say ten dinners or more, chances are that you’ve caught a glimpse of the special wrestling ritual between locals and foreigners alike. The ritual begins when someone at the table calls for the check by shouting mǎi dān! 买单！ (lit. buy list), the phrase which strikes fear into the hearts of cheap bastards everywhe...
August 23, 2014
Never Use The F-Word
No, not that F-word. The claim of being ‘fluent’ in Chinese. Here are 3 Key Milestones to know when you’re nearly there.
Recognizing understatement as a hallmark of Chinese character, why would anyone ever choose to use the F-word and bring upon themselves the no-win glare of the spotlight, inviting everyone to scrutinize their language skills? It’s a sure-fire way to forfeit the respect of all the Chinese who would otherwise have had huge respect for you. How will you know you’re getting good...
August 17, 2014
The Foreigner Who Most Influenced China
Karl Marx? Marco Polo? Kublai Khan? The list is endless. But if you think about it, one man’s legacy has by far had the biggest and longest lasting impact on the Middle Kingdom.
The most influential foreigner in China’s history and culture came to prominence during the Tang Dynasty. He traveled in spirit along the Silk Road from the Han Dynasty onwards, his revolutionary beliefs transported by the oral storytelling tradition of the day. It’s ironic that the Chinese, who never met this Indian...
August 9, 2014
Mastering the Fine Art of Compliment Dodging
No matter your Mandarin speaking level – beginner, expert or somewhere in between – be prepared to be over-praised.
As you progress with your language studies, you’re going to face an inordinate number of compliments from well-meaning Chinese, including effusive appraisals which far outstrip any honest assessment of your language prowess. Responding with a soft-spoken “thank you” might earn points in the West, but in China, it suggests an oversized ego and overestimated abilities. That’s right...
August 2, 2014
Home Visit Gifting – The 5 Best and 5 Worst Gift Options
Planning to go with “the bomb” and “the hand grenade”? You might want to consider a more appropriate item to put a smile on the face of your modern host.
Home visit etiquette has changed a lot. Only 15-20 years ago, the idea of letting people know you were coming to see them was completely new! On the one hand, advance notification was impractical (shared line phones, no cell phones, no email, no chats) and on the other hand, nobody wanted to come across as trying to make a big deal of their v...
July 26, 2014
Chinese Valentine’s Day (Qi Xi Festival) – How to Celebrate the Holiday, plus its Traditional Valentines Story of a Romantic Peeping Tom and Forbidden Love
Do you know the difference between Western and Chinese Valentine’s Day? Feeling pressure to drop cash on another romantic holiday so soon after the last one?
Qi Xi Festival 七夕节 Qī xī jié- often called “Double Seven” or “Chinese Valentine’s Day” – falls on the seventh day of the seventhmonth ofthe lunarcalendar, which this year happens to land on Saturday August 2nd. Before we explore the holiday’s modern practicalities, let’s flashback to its mythic origins:
there lived a mortal Cowherd牛郎Niú lá...
July 21, 2014
July 20, 2014
Challenge Yourself With This Lively Chinese Language Tongue Twister
Some of our linguistically inclined Cantonese friends wouldn’t let us publish China Simplified: Language Gymnastics without including this beloved Cantonese tongue twister.
The Cantonese recording (courtesy of George Lau) and English translation are provided below. We hope you enjoy it!
一蚊一斤龜, 七蚊一斤雞,
佢話龜貴過雞, 我話雞貴過龜,
咁究竟龜貴過雞定係雞貴過龜？
Cantonese recording
Yat man yat kan kwai, chat man yat kan kai,
kui wa kwai kwai kwo kai, ngo wa kai kwai kwo kwai,
kam kau king kwai kwai kwo kai ting hai kai kwai kwo kwa...
