Uno del más llamativa y las características reconocibles de viajeros chinos en Europa es inmediatamente su cariño de su propio Zhongcan, alimento chino. En la mayoría de los casos siendo forzado para satisfacer su primer apetito del día en un hotel que cena el sitio con pan, cereales y tales a ellos es una de las provocaciones de viajar en el oeste.

Todo el esto se olvida fácilmente cuando la hora de comer y dinnertime trae después la oportunidad de poner los palillos al buen uso y de cavar adentro para un buen banquete oriental familiar. No en la clase de restaurantes indescriptibles la mayoría de los remiendos llaman a “de Chinees” donde el cocinar indonesio y meridional del Chino-estilo está mezclado extraño, no, tenemos afortunadamente nuestra parte justa de los eateries chinos auténticos donde muchos platos del hogar trasero están preparados hábilmente, y las huéspedes de lugares far-flung tales como Sichuan o Heilongjiang son bastante felices igualan para encontrar la cocina de Guangdong.

Todos los lectores implicados en este medio se relacionarán seguramente con el alimento giratorio de la posición junto con todos sus juegos de las connotaciones en cultura china. Por lo tanto en hacer negocio con los socios chinos la importancia del papel de comer y de beber junto puede ser sobrestimado apenas. 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/