6 Cultural Aspects You Must Consider When Doing Business In China - Intermediate Chinese

Not understanding Chinese culture could cause you to lose business opportunities in China!
But, what cultural aspects must you understand?
In this video, Eileen and Becky discuss the six major cultural aspects all foreigners need to be aware of if they intent to do business in China. These cultural aspects are:
1. "Face" Culture 03:37
2. Relationship Between Superiors and Subordinates 13:16
3. Guanxi 16:39
4. Eating Culture 27:45
5. Drinking Culture 35:20
6. Chinese Concept of Time 41:42
Download this video's PDF at:
mandarincorner.org/pdfs-audio...
This video is also provided without English subtitles at:
mandarincorner.org/videos-by-...
Music: Blue Skies - Silent Partner • Blue Skies - Silent Pa...
Become a Mandarin Corner Supporter to download all our audio, video and access all our other premium content.
Like our unique content? We need your support to continue making these kinds of videos and maintain our website. Please consider supporting us in one of the following ways:
1) Support us at Patreon: / mandarincorner
2) support us with a one-time PayPal donation at:
mandarincorner.org/one-time-p...
3) Finally, you can support us through WeChat or Alipay:
www.mandarincorner.org/support...
intermediate chinese - chinese conversation - intermediate chinese listening practice - chinese listening practice - mandarin conversation - mandarin listening practice - intermediate mandarin - hsk 3 - hsk 4 - hsk 5 - chinese business culture - chinese drinking culture - chinese eating culture - doing business in china - guanxi culture in china - chinese business culture - mandarin corner - chinese corner - eileen - mandarin corner business

[@MandarinCorner2]

*Download pdfs, audio (mp3), videos, Anki flashcards, HSK courses and more for as low as $10!* mandarincorner.org/store/

[@skydivepilot]

Done :)

[@shannonsutherland2450]

Done :D

[@Bobsob]

Hello, the one time donations are all in different currencies and differrent values. 100RMB to $ is actually $15; $10 to £ is £5.70, but £5.70 to RMB is 49.80元. Almost half price. Can you fix the prices for RMB? I'd like to pay with Wechat as I live in China currently.

[@shannonsutherland2450]

ShizzleMaNizzle just donate any amount and stop being stingy haha. The amount of hard work she puts in to this is incredible

[@Bobsob]

@@shannonsutherland2450 In a way, I'm helping them! They're getting less value on the shitty dollar :P I've already paid in RMB ($15!). You're right, it's all high quality content and learning material. I really shouldn't moan about a few quid when I'm earning what I do. xD

[@InneWinneCinema]

I wish this video would've come out before I went to work in China for half a year. It's basically exactly as you say it. After making some suggestions on how to improve the companies operations my boss in China gave me a really hard time since he felt I didn't "give him face". I highly recommend that you guys actually take notice on what they are talking about because it can save you from a lot of trouble and open up some great opportunities

[@aclearlake6210]

Thank you for kind advice. Hope you do well there

[@InneWinneCinema]

@@aclearlake6210 Back in Germany now but thanks for the kind words!

[@MandarinCorner2]

*Timestamps:* 1. "Face" Culture 03:37 2. Relationship Between Superiors and Subordinates 13:16 3. Guanxi 16:39 4. Eating Culture 27:45 5. Drinking Culture 35:20 6. Chinese Concept of Time 41:42

[@keremakdas2545]

What if we can not drink alcohol because of our beliefs, ıs this -might- affect the relationship between supplier?

[@gra3219]

Kerem Akdaş i think yoi take the drink but dont drink it just show your thankful or just take water for yourself

[@juno1641]

The concept of guanxi is so different to what I grew up with! In my country, the business man leading the student around a market and eating food together before showing the products would probably end without a deal, because it would seem inauthentic and guilt trippy 😳 Like how Walmart failed here because we thought the smiling customer service greeters were creepy 😂

[@Mr_BoBo_808]

Taking this kind of interviews is very unique. 谢谢 Eileen 老师 . keep up the good work !!!

[@luzhvessa]

This was such an interesting video! Thank you! I love learning about the different thought processes of others. I'd really love working somewhere with a nap and dancing afterwards. Sounds fun!

[@ddepxlloyd]

This channel is fantastic, I appreciate your work so much! I am really surprised that this chanel does not have more subs.

[@maximiliano8849]

很开心Eileen又拍了视频！这次的内容仍然很有趣的！期待着新的视频！

[@StewKelly]

Fantastic video Eileen. This interview was very helpful for gaining some cultural appreciation for many kinds of relationships; not just business.

[@jimd2101]

I need to listen to both of you talk more often so I can pick out words and look them up...everything helps .. keep it up Eileen. !!!

[@Jeroeny]

This may have been your most interesting video. I would love to see a part 2! Regarding the drinking. I haven't been drinking for over 8 months. Is it really not possible for a foreigner to skip the drinking part?

[@nananananananana8448]

真有意思的话题!!! Subscribe了🙂 我不是老外，就是一个海外留学生。。听了Becky的那个故事，我就想起来刚来中国的时候😂 有一天，我和一个中国朋友一起逛逛街。聊天的时候，我突然发现她的牙齿上有了口红，我第一时间就告诉她因为这口红太明显了。。在我的国家，这种行为不是让朋友丢脸，而是保护朋友朋友的面子。万一在路上碰到帅哥，她笑着的时候牙齿上的中间有口红，可是回家时才发现这个问题，这不是更丢脸吗? 😂

[@absoluteirene]

谢谢 mandarin corner 给我们带来这样的视频就像播客， 希望你们会发更多这样的播客。内容非常有意思，对我们国外老师以及留学生会学更多知识。谢谢你们

[@jimluck7691]

best video ever for learning chinese language great effort thank you for making these types of conversation video

[@sandergijsbrechts7621]

非常感谢Eileen！这部视频特别有用。你们说的很清楚！话题也挺有意思。加油加油💪

[@midinette]

Such a great video! Really better with the face of the speakers 👌👍 thank you for letting us know more about Chinese culture and language

[@katya_fhs]

I work for a Canadian company with operations in China, and this is very interesting. It's almost completely opposed to the Canadian way of doing business. We address everyone by name, positions are only mentioned when necessary or relevant, our corporate culture strongly encourages work/life balance, and because of how performance reviews work, you do need to have a close work relationship with your direct reports (as opposed to remaining distant with them). I wonder if our team members in China have adopted our corporate culture to any degree, or if they remain strongly attached to their local work culture. I only once talked with one of them (in English, I'm just now learning Mandarin), to whom I was giving a training, and she was very, very nice. She seemed very eager to work with our team, and I really liked that about her. Now I'm wondering how she perceived me! I'm not Canadian but I'm very used to this particular corporate culture. So many questions!

[@FilipP88]

another interesting long video to study intensively ! thank you as always

[@haniw916]

Always interesting topic as usual! Not boring to watch till the end

[@hackriptide1195]

Thank you so much!!!! These videos are soooo helpful!

[@moiravanchristen]

This is GOLD! Thank you so much!!!

[@dianellaspezialebagliacca9943]

This one was so good! I knew most of the things that were said, but the details and the comments whilst saying them made the video even more interesting and entertaining!

[@okmoonshapedlimb1505]

I love this channel!!! Thank You 老师!!

[@Je.rone_]

Very exciting I’m getting better at understanding what is being said, poco a poco

[@nhingoc1369]

Eileen, Thanks so much for all videos you made. It is really natural and helpful

[@beltranhuertas8946]

OMG！！！！！！ AMAZING!!! This could be applied to any culture!!!! Mine half spanish half american is the same!!! My goodness goose bumps

[@lyndaward1708]

非常感谢你们! 这部视频的内容太有意思了!

[@mikedaniels3009]

Eileen 主持人及所有工作人员, y'all are doing invaluable missionary work. Thank you very much.

[@kyt4627]

Thank you so much Eileen! Your videos are awesome!!

[@ejinchina4630]

很容易说这个是关于中国人的思维的最佳影片. 我太喜爱每一秒钟。我发觉自己反复的暂停视频来创作好几张闪卡。

[@kollinbyrne7150]

非常谢谢你们都！这个视频太有意思了，我觉得也一定很有帮助对我的行业，谢谢！

[@christinatattersall]

Very interesting! Thank you for the video. Giving gifts and to an extent the idea of "face" is very prominent here in America. Face here has more to do with one's education, though having a nice house or car is subtly important here - people will be impressed with those things. Also living in a certain neighborhood. After watching this, I feel like people in the "East" and the "West" have a lot more similarities than differences.

[@clarencesenior]

很多 话题 也 很有意思， 最喜欢。非常感谢。

[@MandarinCorner2]

Now all our videos have transcripts with *TRADITIONAL CHARACTERS!* Available to *Mandarin Corner Supporters* only at: mandarincorner.org/listen-to-audio-with-transcript/

[@israrali5284]

You both are great teachers, Respect from Pakistan

[@MandarinCorner2]

*HSK 6 PLAYLIST:* kzbin.info/www/bejne/lXiZm4qEZbWteqs

[@zzzombie97]

呜啊，曾经我去过一趟阳朔，在那边学了两个月的汉语。当时Becky是我的汉语老师之一，那两个月给我留下了非常美好的回忆。都过了七年了，那时的画面仍然一幕幕历历在目。现在能够在你的podcast里面见到她的笑脸，我感到很惊喜。希望两位老师都会过得开心点儿，也祝各位事业上能有所成就🌹

[@MandarinCorner2]

多谢！

[@emmapinn5216]

Love your content. You do great interviews

[@johnjohnson5814]

谢谢跟我们分享这么好的内容！

[@Ravprot]

很喜欢 听到 两个人聊聊天。说话得很清楚。大部分明白 了。 但是， 再一次听一下。

[@user-qe6qh8yc3n]

Thank you so much for your extremely useful videos! They are so amazing!!!

[@MegaVardz]

Becky很厉害！感谢你们！

[@stalker21able]

Happy to see Becky here!

[@BangkokPoet]

Excellent video. Many years ago I was working on a film script with a Chinese woman and I didn't press for any specifics but she said there is a Chinese saying in business: Act like dogs first, and gentlemen later. In other words make the deal clear from the beginning to avoid problems later. I do not know the saying in Chinese though.

[@MandarinCorner2]

*TOO FAST?* Control the video's playback speed *by speeding up or slowing down the video 5% at a time* on *desktop computers and laptops* OR *25%* at a time on *smartphone.* Access the playback speed controls as follows: *Desktop Computers and Laptops* : open the video, then go to the lower right of the video's screen and click on the settings icon (it looks like a GEAR). On the upper right of the options window that comes up, you will see the link "custom". Click on the "custom" link to control the video's playback speed by speeding up or slowing down the video 5% at a time. *Smartphones* : open the video and go to the upper right of the video's screen. You will see 3 dots. Click on them and you will see the link to open the "playback speed" controls. Click on this link and you will be able to control the video's playback speed by speeding up or slowing down the video 25% at a time. Note that viewing the video on desktop computer/laptops gives you greater control over the playback speed (5% vs 25% on smartphones).

[@AsiaLoverBoy_87]

HAHA!! Eileen,. your Chinese talking SPEED is NORMAL! I like it. 😁 Who thinks it's too FAST? 😕

[@MrGanbat84]

Good. You know I already used to wandering over your videos, got a lot of information.

[@pianofan1000]

very helpful and interesting, thank you!

[@emmapinn5216]

i love the concept of having a nap at work, then having a quick dance!

[@chattyparrotmandarin6579]

谢谢你 Becky 老师讲了很多给了我们解释很多中国文化。

[@chrystels.1]

非常感谢你们！ 非常有趣. 我很喜欢这种比较长的视频。这次我学到“给你穿小鞋“ 也有一些在课本找不到的话。mandarin corner爱你 😍

[@MandarinCorner2]

谢谢你的反馈！“穿小鞋”其实在日常口语中非常常听到。

[@billbirkett7166]

我特别喜欢这个频道！

[@shannonsutherland2450]

Wow! This woman is on my Wechat. She lives in the beautiful Guilin area. I’ve been there before (阳朔). Such an amazing place.

[@mariakleshchova4101]

谢谢你们！真的很有帮助

[@typython6999]

thanks for the business topic, is there anytrhing on ordering from manufacturers / signing of contracts?

[@kevindemiranda]

对这个主题挺感兴趣。谢谢🙏

[@Dildar-Satya]

Eileen，谢谢你。很厉害的内容, 很好用的

[@DoubleAmaterasu]

These types of Videos you've been doing recently, especially the last 4, are my favourite kind of mandarin corner. Very natural mandarin conversations pared with knowledgeble chinese about deep social phanomenons and perception from a chinese perspective. The 北方和南方的区别 or 老外刻板印象 have a high value to rehear while piece by piece understanding a bigger portion of the conversation and hopefully passively adapt to the language with the right assoziations.

[@FlecheDeFer]

Thank you for your work, I will become a member 👍🤑

[@yesemarlina9458]

keep up the good work Eileen👍

[@olenievart]

Very useful one.

[@mohamadkhatib8624]

谢谢你老师让我们有这个机会

[@mohamadkhatib8624]

非常喜欢这个视频非常感谢分享这个视频 谢谢你们时间中国❤

[@marcobaldacci9933]

在mandarin corner幫助下我漢語水平提高得非常快。謝謝大家呢！！🙏

[@charlesayache6801]

Excellent!

[@lucy-ferprofiler5379]

super interesting !!!

[@connorgioiafigliu]

I've definitely run into a few of these with my Chinese co-workers 😂

[@romanmengoni8758]

Damn, now I want to see more of Becky!

[@mluisaforatini7261]

Eileen, 我在想很有趣应该是你后面会讲我们至于中国人现代的生活，特别关于平常的生活费用的，比如说租还是买个住宅，一个汽车 值多少钱？一般来说，食物，有时候去饭馆，在店买东西，等等... 那职业们，比如 牙科医生，律师, 管理人，如果你需要他们的帮助，就是太贵的吗？你们国家医院都工作什么制度呢？治疗太贵呢？工作总的情况是什么呢？那人们工资，有就很大区别的吗？任何人 （还是一些有幸福人!) 会就 （自己可以可以）去假期国内或者在国外吗？ 农村现代化怎么前进吗？....... (Eileen and everybody, be so kind, please, to let me through some sentences put into practice what I'm learning thanks to your videos! I hope it may me useful to someone else too!...... 😘Smack!)

[@user-hd5ni5hv9r]

thank you!

[@eagerdip8086]

Love u both ladies 😍😍😍😍😍 Eastern culture is almost same ... I mean Asia including Nepal India China Thailand so on

[@Will-cr9fj]

Thank you

[@punjabimazay288]

Laoshi u r doing great If possible then plz teach about sentence structure of chinese i mean grammer not all but atleast. Basics plz.

[@anilawaqar5922]

Its really helpfull.thanks. One thing i never understand even i am learning chinese from chinese people since one year.why they all the time try to avoid other people .always try to make space with others. aileen laoshi or any other can help me to find

[@jessiz-]

谢谢Eileen和Becky！听你们分享中国生意礼节和文化非常有趣。虽然我本人不需要在中国做生意，就像你说的，这即让我们深化去了解中国社交文化。 Becky的有一些体验很好笑。我也听说中国人做什么都喜欢喝酒！下午睡醒跳舞也很搞笑！但是有一些方面听起来难受，比如为了显示表面努力就加班，特地晚离开办公室。。。 不仅在商务做事，中国文化在很多方面真地太委婉了。。。面子好复杂啊！从外国人的角度来说，在很多场合肯定搞不清楚，有的时候就完全不知道对方真正地想要什么，而怕无心产生误会。 总的来说，喜欢你们做的视频内容，视频产生的质量和字幕也越来越好了，期待下次的节目博客！

[@MandarinCorner2]

也谢谢你的留言！

[@viewchinadevelopment9557]

有兴趣可以学习儒家思想 读读孔子的书 就会明白中国人的想法，归根结底，作为一个中国人。 面子可以说是控制自己，在乎他人 其实就是在乎自己。 你在乎别人的面子，如果大家都是这么想 ，那么别人自然也会在乎你的面子。 因为 我们只能做到控制自己行为。 举个例子。 我在街上不希望被别人殴打。 但是我无法控制别人的行为，我只能控制自己的行为。 我控制自己不去打别人。 如果所有人都是这么想的。 这变相就是保护了我自己。 我给别人面子 其实也是别人会给我面子

[@alfaeco15]

Quite informative

[@apvlee5890]

感谢 Eileen. 现在清清楚楚这些文化区别。但却我也个问题vegan和vegetarian 人群，他们吃饭喝酒的时候做什么呢？ 通过这个视频理解为什么中国人看起来好友不过背后其实他们想知道信不信，合不合。。那个意思。 我觉得很多亚洲国家有同类的生意方面对“面”,“加班”,“时间” 等

[@MandarinCorner2]

Vegan / 素食者在中国，我个人感觉是少数。

[@harminavuyk3676]

Daar Eileen Thank you again for this great video very helpfull. Feichang ganxie

[@alanmolly7262]

I can say that for those who learn Chinese more than 2 year is quite easy to understand at least 70% of this content, thanks for that work

[@gingerbladebl]

Cool!

[@aformula4198]

Lifesaver!!

[@vio3366]

What about if you don't want or can't drink alcohol?

[@hendrigozali9511]

哇 真好的频道 马上捐了10美元💸

[@borisbouka1217]

i need some corses about Gamble ,

[@samalford8923]

@Mandarin Corner 日本有没有类似的饭局文化？

[@viewchinadevelopment9557]

日本的职场文化比中国更刻板。

[@tososhin]

If I don't drink much alcohol (I normally feel sick after more than one drink), is there a way to politely decline a drink?

[@MandarinCorner2]

If you're a foreigner, probably you won't be forced to drink.

[@walterbarbosa468]

太棒了

[@partvideo1065]

对我来说，这对我将来很有帮助

[@kapo1362]

Hello Eileen, thank you very much for you video, A suggestion for the timestamps: if you write them like this on the description of the video: Intro 0:00 "Face" Culture 3:37 Relationship Between Superiors and Subordinates 13:16 Guanxi 16:39 Eating Culture 27:45 Drinking Culture 35:20 Chinese Concept of Time 41:20 The timeline will automatically show the different topics, which will improve a lot the navigation through the video, try it out! It is important that you start from the 0:00 timestamp, no matter the topic, you can later change the topics and the time as long as you keep the format, and add as many as you like I really hope it helps, cheers ! PD: (If you copy paste the list of this comment, it will work)

[@MandarinCorner2]

Thanks for the effort Kapoacinth! But frankly, we didn't see much differences between your timestamps and ours.

[@mluisaforatini7261]

My own experience as an Interpreter has been slightly different, as whenever I had worked for Italian Companies, and therefore I had to eat out with their Russian customers, I couldn't bring with me a friend or some partner or so, for the simple reason that they used to pay all expenses, so I always found myself alone, and these ones were my first work experiences just after graduating at the University. I started when I was 25 years old and had no previous experience... Everybody envolved usually drank very much. While having the meal they used to chat and joke a lot, just a little to deal with businness matters. Sure, they signed no agreements sat down around the table! But only after that! Apart from that, it seems me

[@traceya573]

3 difficult languages 😅👍👍

[@dans.7651]

Again, I will say that this is an absolutely awesome channel. Having said that, I have to say that, the key to doing business in China is to not do it :(. Every single person I know who has tried has been copied and/or squeezed out by their (forced) Chinese partner.

[@ypayasoso]

Becky with the good hair

[@willg0827]

如果我不想要有面子的话，那我该怎么办呢？

[@crowerussel3412]

Berky is really lovely.

[@nhano7800]

❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@AsiaLoverBoy_87]

我有一个问题想问你。在2021年的中国人能跟我们外国人做生意的时候，中国人能不能跟我们讲中文吗？

[@adriancann5056]

One thing I think you left out about eating. Chinese people quite often chew with their mouth open, westerners don't and find it very rude. the best example would be slurping noodles. Westerners need to be told about this in advance to avoid misunderstandings about politeness.

[@ayi3455]

if you understand this interview with no difficulties, closing your eyes without reading the English subtitles, then ypu are ready to take (2010 version) Hsk-6, at least the listening part...

[@saibotgaming6045]

Hello Eileen. thx you for this great video. Pls guys go to Eileen's website and make a donation. it will give you certain advantages and will help Eileen make more such videos

[@elizabethcao6474]

感谢你的视频！中国做生意的方式和俄罗斯的有点一样

[@demetriusmarinho4662]

It’s really different, here we contract a lawyer Iff we stay more than the work time, because it’s against the law, in China they stay more to show “support”. My God... somehow it’s make me sad.