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Etiquette Guide to China: Know the Rules that Make the Difference!
This essential guide to Chinese etiquette will make embarrassing social blunders a thing of the past!
Whether you're traveling to China for business or pleasure, whether your stay will be long or short, your visit will be more pleasurable and productive if you understand your host culture and how to work within it.
This updated and expanded edition of the best-selling Chinese etiquette guide on the market addresses not just the puzzling protocols relating to name cards, bowing or shaking hands, bathrooms and public baths—but also what to do when entertaining Chinese dinner guests, attending a Chinese tea ceremony, taking the subway, and much more!
It also provides the latest etiquette in mobile phone manners, texting, social media and other forms of digital communication. The glossary at the back of the book has been revised to include the latest technology-related words and expressions used in China today. Two new chapters address the changing role of foreigners in the workplace and the contemporary business style and etiquette used by the younger generation of Chinese who are now increasingly cosmopolitan—but still very Chinese!
Etiquette Guide to China includes everything you need to know to be a successful, courteous traveler:
Hand gestures and body language
How to address the Chinese
Dining and restaurant manners
Gift giving and celebration in China
Entering into and understanding business relationships
How to behave in professional situations
Dealing with China's political culture
The Chinese way of negotiating
Whether you're traveling to China for business or pleasure, whether your stay will be long or short, your visit will be more pleasurable and productive if you understand your host culture and how to work within it.
This updated and expanded edition of the best-selling Chinese etiquette guide on the market addresses not just the puzzling protocols relating to name cards, bowing or shaking hands, bathrooms and public baths—but also what to do when entertaining Chinese dinner guests, attending a Chinese tea ceremony, taking the subway, and much more!
It also provides the latest etiquette in mobile phone manners, texting, social media and other forms of digital communication. The glossary at the back of the book has been revised to include the latest technology-related words and expressions used in China today. Two new chapters address the changing role of foreigners in the workplace and the contemporary business style and etiquette used by the younger generation of Chinese who are now increasingly cosmopolitan—but still very Chinese!
Etiquette Guide to China includes everything you need to know to be a successful, courteous traveler:
Hand gestures and body language
How to address the Chinese
Dining and restaurant manners
Gift giving and celebration in China
Entering into and understanding business relationships
How to behave in professional situations
Dealing with China's political culture
The Chinese way of negotiating
192 pages, Paperback
First published June 15, 2008
17 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
About the author
Boyé Lafayette De Mente
197 books25 followersBoyé Lafayette De Mente was an author, journalist, and adventurer. He wrote more than 100 books, most of them about the culture and language of Japan, East Asia, and Mexico.
De Mente joined the U.S. Navy and began his career as a cryptographer based in Washington, D.C. In 1948, he joined the U.S. Army Security Agency and was a decoding technician stationed in Tokyo. While there, he he founded and edited the agency's newspaper, The ASA Star.
De Mente wrote the first English guides to the Japanese way of doing business ("Japanese Etiquette and Ethics in Business" in 1959 and "How to Do Business in Japan" in 1962). His other books run the gamut from language learning to the night-time "pink" trades in Japan, the sensual nature of Oriental cultures, male-female relations, and understanding and coping with the Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Mexican mindset in business and social situations. He has also written extensively about Mexico and his home state of Arizona.
De Mente joined the U.S. Navy and began his career as a cryptographer based in Washington, D.C. In 1948, he joined the U.S. Army Security Agency and was a decoding technician stationed in Tokyo. While there, he he founded and edited the agency's newspaper, The ASA Star.
De Mente wrote the first English guides to the Japanese way of doing business ("Japanese Etiquette and Ethics in Business" in 1959 and "How to Do Business in Japan" in 1962). His other books run the gamut from language learning to the night-time "pink" trades in Japan, the sensual nature of Oriental cultures, male-female relations, and understanding and coping with the Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Mexican mindset in business and social situations. He has also written extensively about Mexico and his home state of Arizona.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 29, 2023
A quick introduction to how-to-do-business with Chinese counterparts. The authors had the bad luck to write this book in the mid oughts, at the time when China was undergoing a rapid development of its economy and corporate culture. Many cultural explanations add the caveat that "this is changing as China modernizes and more of their businessmen gain overseas experience". The portions devoted to understanding HOW Chinese negotiations play out were interesting, but missed an opportunity to explain the China-side rationale for some behaviors. For instance, the author points out that in some negotiations, one of the members of your counterparty will yell/scream/berate you and your side, but that you mustn't react in such a way as to cause the China side to lose face. While the latter part is well justified in this book (face is IMPORTANT in China, kind of like Japan and Korea....), no explanation is given as to WHY this is a tactic used on the China side of the table. Instead, some vague mentions are made to the Art of War.
If you are interested in learning about current etiquette in China, skip this book. For all of the talk of China's established culture, the country has grown fourfold since the book ws released, and the business culture has probably evolved as well. More recent editions may also give a fuller explanation as to why some Chinese business practices are the way they are. This book is scant on that count. Instead, if you are interested in a snapshot of where China was in the oughts, then this will be a fun reminder of those days not-so-long-ago.
If you are interested in learning about current etiquette in China, skip this book. For all of the talk of China's established culture, the country has grown fourfold since the book ws released, and the business culture has probably evolved as well. More recent editions may also give a fuller explanation as to why some Chinese business practices are the way they are. This book is scant on that count. Instead, if you are interested in a snapshot of where China was in the oughts, then this will be a fun reminder of those days not-so-long-ago.
August 11, 2019
It was a good book for the serious-minded person intending to do business in China. It doesn't just present a list of dos and don'ts, but goes into the culture and background, and builds up to the prescriptive portion (mostly toward the end). The author pulls no punches and clearly did not pass the book in front of the Communist Party's censors prior to publication. He also caveats many of his generalizations with the warning about diversity in China, particularly between the old and young, or those with regular contact with foreigners and those more insulated. It is very readable and not too long, but packs a lot of good information in its small space. It even has a brief language glossary at the back for the over-achieving. It might be overkill for a casual tourist to China, but definitely a good read for anyone planning on a longer stay or wishing to transact business there.
January 4, 2015
I think this book made a few important points. It all has to do with the history. I think what was most important was reading Confucius and Lao Tzu before visiting the People's Republic, though modern Chinese history is billed as what you should know before you get into ancient history.
No, that is not how my mind works, from the Latin scholastic standpoint.
How I think is that you need to understand where people are coming from to grasp why such and such is a problem (such as water), hence ancient history comes first.
However, it may be easier to explain modern history, thinking from a teacher's standpoint, so that's potentially why academically it's placed beforehand.
Fortunately when I went to the nation-state this book depicts, I had the buffer of seeming like an international visitor to blunt any confusion and apparent ignorance. Also importantly, like the other big international scholar of my acquaintance, I apologise at the drop of a hat. (That angers some of the Russians of my acquaintance... most people I've spoken to in person to my memory are east Asian. This does include part of Russia, true, Vladivostok specifically, but I mean largely speaking, everything has worked out well in the recent past, when I did visit this imposing nation-state.)
I found tucked in the front some instructions in Chinese! It seems like those are for the router I used for Chinese Internet access. [Note: the Internet over there is politically restricted, so no Facebook and a certain number of other American websites, though since I use Russian LJ and Yandex (for web searching) I was okay, more okay than some of my associates.]
No, that is not how my mind works, from the Latin scholastic standpoint.
How I think is that you need to understand where people are coming from to grasp why such and such is a problem (such as water), hence ancient history comes first.
However, it may be easier to explain modern history, thinking from a teacher's standpoint, so that's potentially why academically it's placed beforehand.
Fortunately when I went to the nation-state this book depicts, I had the buffer of seeming like an international visitor to blunt any confusion and apparent ignorance. Also importantly, like the other big international scholar of my acquaintance, I apologise at the drop of a hat. (That angers some of the Russians of my acquaintance... most people I've spoken to in person to my memory are east Asian. This does include part of Russia, true, Vladivostok specifically, but I mean largely speaking, everything has worked out well in the recent past, when I did visit this imposing nation-state.)
I found tucked in the front some instructions in Chinese! It seems like those are for the router I used for Chinese Internet access. [Note: the Internet over there is politically restricted, so no Facebook and a certain number of other American websites, though since I use Russian LJ and Yandex (for web searching) I was okay, more okay than some of my associates.]
September 15, 2014
For a book that could have been written in 20 pages, it was long and verbose. There were a few select nuggets that were useful, but mostly just filler to get to 150 pages. Not to mention the pronunciation guide is abysmal without any tones (the author apparently thinks you can get close enough with the rather terrible approximations in the romanic alphabet). I also shutter to think what possible brilliance a non-Chinese person can possibly convey to a fellow foreigner. If you've got time to waste, waste it here.
March 20, 2011
Lots of information especially for business.
While it has a lot to offer in many cases I felt it only brought up the problem but didn't answer the question of how to deal with it. A simple example might be "Always use the right protocol in a situation like this." - No protocol would follow. I can only imagine the advice to have good translators and guides supposes the answers to many of these omissions will be provided by them - but you might need to be aware and ask.
While it has a lot to offer in many cases I felt it only brought up the problem but didn't answer the question of how to deal with it. A simple example might be "Always use the right protocol in a situation like this." - No protocol would follow. I can only imagine the advice to have good translators and guides supposes the answers to many of these omissions will be provided by them - but you might need to be aware and ask.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews