Tomb Sweeping Day in China, or 清明节(Qing Ming Festival) fell on April 4th this year. To reduce crowds, the Chinese government has pushed for virtual grave-visiting options. This practical change goes against the culture of annual Tomb Sweeping trips and …
Do You Wear a Face Mask Regularly?
Efficacy of face masks is heavily debated on social media as a preventive measure. South China Morning Post article “Face masks and coronavirus: how culture affects your decision to wear one”, asserts “whatever the opinions on efficacy, experts say cultural …
Which country has scored the best in grappling with Covid19?
Which East Asian country would you guess? Korea? Japan? Of many of China’s neighbors, Taiwan has the fewest cases per capita of 23 million. As of March 10th, Taiwan has only 50 cases for an island just 81 miles off …
Reduced face to face meetings means increased videoconferencing
Businesses rely on meetings and keeping up of relationships. With so many trade shows canceling all over the world across industries, videoconferencing are increasing. Body language speaks even louder via video than in person. People recall negative details from a …
China and East Asia Trips Canceled. Now what?
Have you ever considered that even the do’s and don’ts of video conferences can have cultural influences? Naturally, in any video conference you ought test your equipment beforehand, dress appropriately, and avoid multitasking during the call. However tricky questions such …
Have You Seen Netflix’s American Factory?
Netflix’s “American Factory” provides fewer laughs and more heartbreaks than the fictitious factory of Keaton’s comedy “Gung Ho”. However, the underlying cultural differences are loud and clear. Have our companies learned to work with East Asian cultures any better now …
How Closely Do You Live Next to Your Neighbor?
This 3 min video will give an overview of the most populous cities from the 1500 to now. See how the US has only briefly been in the top 10 starting from 1849, or at the video’s 1 minute 49 …
How can humor get you in trouble?
Humor is highly culturally defined and the lines of good taste are very different from one country to another, and arguably one region, one age group within that country to another. For example, the British Monty Python brand of humor …
Achoo! Part II
The days following the New Year’s Day is typically marked by visits to grandparents, extended families and friends, and business partners. This year many festivities in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan have been canceled, and even hugely popular events in …
Lunar New Year
Offices, banks, and schools are closed. Small businesses like beauty salons will be very busy up until Lunar New Year’s Eve, on January 24th, then, they will close for a week. Large restaurants and banquet facilities will remain open. If …