Now imagine yourself in a Chinese setting where handshakes are rather new. Your typically firm handshake for folks who are learning this Western style of greeting will very likely feel crushingly strong. No matter how many Youtube videos the Chinese …
How the Typewriter Revolution Skipped China
When the typewriter was introduced to the Chinese, it was received with mixed emotions. It made communication advance miraculously faster, but it was incompatible with a non-alphabet, logographic based language. The Chinese typewriter became an invention to be wrestled with …
What color means STOP for you?
Could the interpretation of traffic lights be culturally different? The meaning of the traffic lights was not determined purely on a whimsical Red Guard decision. Culturally speaking, red for the Chinese has been the color of joy, vibrancy, celebration for …
Do You Wear a Swimming Cap to Swim?
Swimming, like jogging, may be considered a low cost sport or pastime in the US. It requires little gear and city pools, lakes, and beaches are accessible, low cost recreation areas. In China, swimming pools are costly to run and …
Can Homebuying be Based on a Cultural Reason?
Recently I heard from a seasoned real estate broker that only 18-20% of homebuyers listed schools being the number one factor of their homebuying search. If we focus on the data of the Chinese population in the US, the percentage …
Can Friendliness be Mandated?
To assist strangers who are in need sounds like the proper action for anyone to take. Yet, if you think about it, in a country where there’s no cultural tradition of the Good Samaritan story, such unabashed intrusion on someone …
Are You Traveling for Business or for Pleasure?
How many American companies organize or support annual trips for employees? Contemporary American practice includes company sponsored picnics, execute retreats, and annual holiday parties. For the Chinese, it is not uncommon for school or district administrators to invite teachers to …
Is the Panda a Chinese Animal?
Geographically speaking, the panda may be uniquely Chinese. In any Chinese gift shop outside of Asia, you will surely see a plethora of products created in homage to this snugly creature so deserving of our protection. Yet, if you enter …
A Chinese Penny for Your Thought?
For over a thousand years, Chinese coins had a square hole in them for stringing together and easy carrying. A style of this coin was minted with a riddle stamped around the hole. This riddle uses the square hole in …
Are You Mr. Mike?
In American culture, we tend to introduce ourselves using first name only. We may have worked with some co-workers for years without knowing their last names. Officemates across departments may not know someone’s last name until the retirement party unless …