Um do mais impressionante e imediatamente características recognizable de viajantes chineses em Europa é seu fondness de seu próprio Zhongcan, alimento chinês. Em a maioria de casos sendo forçado para satisfer a seu primeiro apetite do dia em um hotel que janta o quarto com o pão, os cereais e os tais a eles é um dos aggravations de viajar no oeste.

Todo o isto é esquecido prontamente quando o lunchtime e mais tarde no dinnertime traz a oportunidade de pôr os chopsticks ao uso bom e de os escavar dentro para uma festa Oriental familiar boa. Não no tipo de restaurantes non-descript a maioria de Dutchmen chamam “de Chinees” onde cozinhar Indonesian e do sul do Chinês-estilo é misturado estranha, No., felizmente nós temos nossa parte justa dos eateries chineses authentic onde muitos pratos do repouso traseiro são preparados skillfully, e os convidados dos lugares far-flung tais como Sichuan ou Heilongjiang são felizes bastante nivelam para encontrar o cuisine de Guangdong.

Todos os leitores envolvidos neste meio relacionar-se-ão certamente ao alimento pivotal da posição junto com todos seus jogos dos connotations na cultura chinesa. Conseqüentemente em fazer o negócio com sócios chineses a importância do papel de comer e de beber junto pode mal overestimated. 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/