واحدة من ال أكثر مضرب عن العمل وحالا صفة ممكن تمييز من مسافرات صينيّة في أوروبا حالت ولعهم من هم خاصّة [زهونغكن], طعام صينيّة. يتلقّى [إين موست كسس] يكون يجبر أن يرضي شهيتهم أولى من اليوم في فندق [دينينغ رووم] مع خبز, حب ومثل هذا إلى هم واحدة من التفاقمات من يسافر في الالغرب.

كلّ نسيت هذا باستعداد عندما ساعة غذاء و [لتر ون] [دينّرتيم] يحضر الفرصة أن يضع العيدان إلى إستعمال جيّدة وحفرت داخل لعيد جيّدة اعتاد شرقيّة. لا في النوع من مطاعم [نون-دسكريبت] يدعو كثير هولنديات "[د] [شنيس]" حيث أندونيسيّة وجنوبيّة [شنس-ستل] يطبخ يكون بغرابة خلطت, رفض, لحسن الحظّ نحن نتلقّى [فير شر] نا من [إتري] أصيلة صينيّة حيث كثير أطباق من منزل خلفيّة يكون بشكل بارع أعدّت, وضيفات من أماكن واسع الإنتشار مثل [سشن] أو [هيلونغجينغ] يكونون سعيدة بكفاية يساوي أن يجد [غنغدونغ] [كيسن].

سيرتبط [ألّ ث] قارئات يتضمّن في هذا وسط بالتّأكيد إلى المحورية موقعة طعام مع كلّه معان ثوان لعب في ثقافة صينيّة. لذلك في يتمّ عمل مع شريكات صينيّة الأهمية من الدور من يأكل ويشرب معا يستطيع بصعوبة كنت غاليت. When wielding their chopsticks and drinking their green tea or something stronger later on in the day the guests seem to find themselves at ease among elements of an alien culture surrounding them, while at the same time the engrained hierarchic patterns and internal group structure remain intact, and clearly distinguishable. Eating and drinking and then maybe some singing together (or even a bit of naughty entertainment) form an indispensable prelude to successfully building a close relationship, and as such an integral part of the trust and mutual confidence necessary for extending this into actually doing business.

We at Jingli Helan organize the leisure program for Chinese business delegations in the Netherlands from all walks of life in the Sino-Dutch business spectrum. Apart from arranging Mandarin-speaking tour guides for tailored tours we make it our business to make sure providing authentic food is well taken care of. The operative word here is guanxi: many of you will be familiar with this concept meaning something like personal relationship. Guanxi is what gets people a job, a home, adequate medical treatment, a chance in a trial and many more things.

It is certainly also the one thing that gets successful business done. It is built up by exchanging favors and gifts and needs to be maintained. For Dutch companies receiving business delegations what better way to return the favor of a cordial welcome in China then offering hospitality through the dinner table? We may never stop wondering how such a basic human need such as food fulfills a crucial role in the modern commercial world. Yet there may be lessons to be learnt from Orientals sitting at the dinner table together and taking the time to get to know each other before embarking on a business adventure together. Isn’t this building of mutual trust as a basis for commercial ties preferable to our Western fixation on contracts as an expression of distrust for business partners old as well as new?

The quintessential act of establishing, and reinforcing guanxi through an ancient ritual of nourishing the body and mind together may well be recognized as a cherished and beneficial influence from the East on the West in the near future.

Written by: Marc Combe
http://www.jinglihelan.nl/