Um passeio simples do táxi de Shanghai a Suzhou pôs-me muito muito na mente de contratos tornando-se com chinês - mesmo o mais simples dos contratos. Muito raramente no negócio faça o chinês aderem à letra da lei, quando exorcise seu espírito em sua conveniência mais adiantada. E se o acordo for verbal, a seguir relógio para fora!

O negócio era este: para 300RMB - including pedágios - o excitador de Shanghai faria exame de me a Suzhou…

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Por Jocelyn Eikenburg

“Eu empreguei um estudante de uma universidade local para fazer minha tradução… e terminou acima de ferir minha reputação.”

Esta era a história que eu me ouvi de um contato de negócio eu me encontrei com com hà duas semanas. Trabalha para um fabricante químico grande com uma presença em China, e necessitaram seu Web site traduzido no chinês. Sua escolha era empregar um estudante local de China para o trabalho. Uma vez que apresentou a tradução a seus sócios de negócio chineses, não foram imprimidos - os erros fizeram realmente o e seu olhar da companhia menos profissional em seus olhos. Read the rest of “What does your Chinese translation say about your company? You may be surprised…” or post a comment

Imagine doing jail time — or worse — just because you were related to the offending party.

If you want to understand just how far collectivism goes in China, look no further than lianzuo — or collective responsibility. Throughout China’s 2,000-year feudal history — from at least 7th-century BC all the way to the turn of the 20th century — people were guilty by association. That is, if you were …

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Huge, mythical beasts with piercing eyes and gigantic, roaring mouths stand guard at many of China’s most important buildings and ancient structures. The name of these imposing creatures is “Fu Dogs” or Rui Shi (”auspicious dog” in Mandarin), also known as Imperial Guardian Lions.

Started during the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. – 220 A.D.), the tradition of placing two large statues of male and female lions near the entrance of an establishment was intended to …

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Tomorrow is the start of the Chinese New Year, also known as Spring Festival. This festival starts on the first day of the first lunar month (on the Chinese calendar) and it ends on the fifteenth day of this month. This period is traditionally full of celebrations, family visits, special foods and fireworks. It’s one of the more important Chinese festivals and everybody will take the time to celebrate, especially during the first three days of the festival.

This time is obviously not the best for arranging meetings and trying to make business deals. Also travelling within China is not recommended since many Chinese will go back to their hometown and every form of public transportation will be overloaded with families and bags full of presents and food. The best option is probably to stay where you are and try to see some of the local festivities such as fireworks and dragon dances. Read the rest of “Happy Chinese New Year” or post a comment