On Christmas Eve, The New York Times published the following article about Chinese-American relations in the workplace: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/24/business/global/24chinawork.html?ref=todayspaper.  Although there are some differences between the cultures of Kaohsiung and Beijing, there are still many similarities—certainly enough for much of the article to ring true to my ears. 

What struck me in the article? First, somewhat like employees of for-profit firms in China, I get a pretty good deal given my skill set.  All Fulbright ETAs are paid the salary of a full-time, first year elementary school teacher.  Typically, one must complete a semester-long internship and pass a difficult licensing test before one can teach in public schools.  Thanks to my native language abilities and Fulbright Scholarship, I bypassed all that effort!  My benefits, unfortunately, don’t extend to the ten or fifteen percent salary bump a lot of Americans receive in the Chinese business world.

I could be off base, but I don’t think our situation generates resentment from teachers or teaching interns in Kaohsiung.  My sense is that everyone has an understanding, with varying degrees of clarity, that all of the Fulbright ETAs demonstrated such outstanding abilities in college that we earned our job via other means.  I bet there would be some resentment if we were paid more than first year teachers.  To be honest, I could live with that resentment. 

Second, Ms. Seligson does a good job highlighting the key interpersonal differences that distinguish the Chinese and American workplaces.  “Saving face” is a lot more important here than in America.  Direct criticism of someone else’s job is considered too direct and quite rude.  Even disagreement, if expressed too directly, is considered a rude form of criticism.  No work place can improve without adjustments generated by input from bosses or subordinates, but Chinese/Taiwanese culture expects the boat rocker to rock the boat gently.  Otherwise, you risk insulting the person who charted the original course.

Hierarchy is more respected in Chinese workplaces than American workplaces.  This is not to say that Americans have no respect for their bosses, or that Chinese/Taiwanese are Lemmings.  I also suspect that Chinese culture has changed a bit in this sense over the last thirty years (from what I’ve read and then experienced here, there are more exceptions to the rule, in quantity and quality, than probably occurred in the 1980s or 1990s).  Nevertheless, I’ve noticed some of my coworkers are more willing to accept silently, if only begrudgingly, the opinions of their bosses than Americans I’ve worked alongside in the past.  This difference is related to the previous one (“saving face”), but it’s separate insofar as Chinese/Taiwanese are simply less likely to so much as try to confront their superiors, however gently.

All of the Fulbright ETAs benefit from our year-long introduction to Taiwanese/Chinese workplace culture.  As China and East Asia become more and more important to the global economy, it will prove valuable for Americans to be able to work comfortably alongside descendants of Confucian culture.  Just like any other group of homo sapiens, Taiwanese and Chinese are most comfortable working around those who require them to step out of their cultural comfort zone the least.   I’ll be better able to fit those shoes after my year working in Kaohsiung.  Yet another reason why I’m happy to be an ETA rather than just a researcher. 

There’s still plenty more to understand about what drives the Taiwanese workplace.  For example, I don’t think I appreciate fully the importance of guanxi (i.e. relationships) in protecting, promoting, disadvantaging etc. your average worker.  I have a lot to learn over the next six months.

Booz and Company’s Strategy+Business publication has an interesting article about the decline of business media in these tight financial times. (What a Declining Business Media Means to CEOs)  The main point of the article was that CEO’s will have fewer channels to share their company stories through, but there was another underlying message which I took from the article:  

   We are in a period of declining news reporting quality – the article identified two causes for this: 

1. Swapping experienced journalist for a less-expensive younger generation.
2. Feeding the publication’s websites and Web2.0 monster.

The impact of declining quality is not only hitting the business reporting sector, it is affecting our entire news industry.  Our need for instant information, instant gratification, and instant everything has a negative effect on quality.  S+B mentioned that reporters are less inclined to cultivate sources and digging for root cause, this lack of cultivation is something we are seeing across all industries, not just news. 

In preparation for a trip to China I am taking next week for my MBA studies we were given a book to read by Ming-Jer Chen, “Inside Chinese Business”, in the book he talks about Guanxi.  In a discussion with Ming-Jer he focused on the verb he used in relation to Guanxi, the verb was “nurture” or “cultivate.”  Our society has evolved from establishing a few strong relationships to creating many weak relationships.  Social media is facilitating these with sites like Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, etc.  I have over 500 “friends” on Facebook, but when I look at my friends I should only have about 50.

The main point, is we need to take a step back and add at little Guanxi into our lives.  Our networks can be big, but we should ensure that we are cultivating and nourishing our core network.  Journalists need to slow down and provide us meaningful reporting that we can learn from.  

Take a minute and give a buddy or business contact a call this week, just to see how they are doing.

I had only been studying abroad in Shanghai for a couple weeks, but I already had a new friend in Candice, a 21-year-old woman who dreams of being an editor.  She took me to lunch at a restaurant I never would have found on my own. It was a brightly lit hall crowded with Chinese students. As we made our way to our seats, I noticed the customers turning and pointing—I looked blatantly foreign.

But the stares didn’t phase me.  After all, the comfort of female friendships can be powerful. New York Women in Communications gave me that sense of community in New York. Now, thanks to my 2009 NYWICI Foundation scholarship, I have the chance to study in Shanghai, a proud city that bursts at the seams with 18.88 million permanent residents and serves as China’s financial capital.  My mission is to find like-minded Chinese women in communications. And in my journey to do so, I’ll be blogging for NYWICInext about networking (or “Guanxi”) and sharing interviews with media professionals.

Often our first instinct as study abroad students is to cling to what we know. We’re worried about language barriers and cultural faux pas. But diving in—whether it’s into an internship, a new culture, or even a relationship—is the best way to find adventures that challenge and change you.  That’s exactly why I was lunching with Candice, with whom I quickly found common ground. She divulged her guilty pleasures, like watching pirated episodes of Sex and the City, and I asked her for some vital Chinese phrases.

The waitress brought us menus, which were written in Chinese. This explained why none of my classmates had been here yet. But I was up for the challenge of a foreign menu. Plus, I had my new friend to help me out. Now, how do you say, “Fried dumplings, please?”

~Carol Kuruvilla, New York University  ‘11

Fun piece in the BBC Magazine today on China’s burgeoning market for Western food products, like Stilton cheese, fine wine and whiskey.

The author raises doubts on whether Western products– “alien to the Chinese palate” –can sustain themselves against tough local competition. But if I could learn to like stinky tofu over the course of several months, I am sure the Chinese can learn to like blue cheese!

I especially enjoyed the part on drinking culture and how it relates to guanxi–the be all and end all of doing business in China:

Draining your glass

The reason European food products are valued often seems to have less to do with their taste or history, and more to do with the desire to show “status” in the fast moving Chinese economy.

Scotch whisky in particular has evolved a reputation as a status product.

Business meetings here revolve around hospitality and maintaining “face” by paying for expensive drinks. When I tried to sip my Scotch, I was surprised as all those around me stood and drained their glasses.

“You have to drain your glass each time,” Says Mr. (Charles) Soong. “To show 100% respect to your companions. You have to toast when you drink. If you don’t you’ll be seen as a very arrogant guy.”

This was something I witnessed in Shanghai, though luckily–being female–I was not required to participate. Still, I think Scotch Whiskey is a huge improvement over baijiu, a truly disgusting liquor that my college-aged (read: young and penniless) Chinese friends enjoyed.

Speaking of Western food products infiltrating China’s supermarkets, here is one thing I really miss:

Oreo Wafers... Yum!

In the dawn of the 21st century, there has been significant historic changes in the economies of the world. An eminent author said that the “World has become flat” referring to the globalization and the business playing fields getting leveled. The world has an watchful eye on countries like India and China which has seen a tremendous economic growth in the last 15 years. I would refer them as CHINDIA, witnessing to the world of its enormous tangible and intangible potential. In this Global recession times, when the world is dwindling down, CHINDIA (China & India) are soaring high in the international market space. China has become the 2nd largest economy in the world next to US, in terms of Purchasing Power Parity of Index and if this current trend continues, it can surpass US to become the world’s largest economy in less than 20 years.

 China is altogether a new world for the western countries, so to speak…. The Culture, people’s mindset, Business dealings are completely different from the west. It is difficult and almost impossible to enter into chinese market unless multinational companies are aware of these things. For eg: Any business with chinese society has to follow/adopt the “Guanxi” dynamics where a ‘personal connection’ network has to be established before any business relationships. The Western world goes for a business first and over a period of time builds loyalty and relationships but the Chinese will go for a friendship & mutal trust first and then signs for a business deal with the local and foreign investors

 China’s market was highly regulated, with too many government interventions particularly on the foreign based companies. Further to that, attractive tax rebates & subsides are being offered by the government to the Chinese local companies and investors in order to compete with these foreign based  companies. But in the last few years, particularly after enrolling themselves with the WTO (world trade organization), there seems to be common playground for local and foreign companies to compete with respect to Tax and subsides.

 It is also fair to say that China is the only country where the state owned enterprises (SOE) maintains equity ventures with the competing foreign companies. This helps china to acquire the knowledge and cutting edge technologies from these multinationals and over a period of time in future, leading to the development of world class “quality” products by Chinese multinationals.

So, i think that the western world can’t ignore china and remain competitive in the global market.

Ok, we really did have a semi-game plan this time. I wanted to go to Neiwan in search of an alleged waterfall.

While we were driving, we saw a sign for Guanxi. Although… we were already on the road to Neiwan, we decided that it would be cool to find the bat cave! And… we had read an article that mentioned how to get there… so maybe we read it a few months ago.

… we were set for the bat cave, but when we got to 關西 Guanxi there didn’t seem to be any signs for it! We drove through the town pretty quickly. We turned down one road and saw tour buses heading the same route. We passed a fancy, resort hotel and a water park that was still closed. We continued driving and realized we were already in 桃園 Taoyuan county. Just a couple more kilometers and we could relive our Taipei route!

The buses all turned into a parking lot. We drove in and saw that it was some kind of park/garden/recreational area? A lot of people were unloading huge picnic baskets and ice chests. The park was called 桃源仙谷 ［Tao Yuan Xian Ku］Since we had driven so far, we decided to pay the admission tickets and check it out.

It’s currently firefly season, but unfortunately it’d be too dangerous to hang out until nightfall and then drive back. Although the parking lot was pretty full, the park was so large that you didn’t run into a huge crowd. The park was filled with a lot of different flora and as you can see .. some large forest dwellers. The park reminded me of when we went to the Botanical Garden in Berlin, Germany.

The best part of the park was the bbq area next to the water. The water was so cold, but refreshing. All the meats grilling nearby smelled so scrumptious. Despite not bringing any swimsuits, the water’s height was perfect for wading in. After letting our legs dry off, we headed on the long road home. 

I am sure you have heard the old adage “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”. Believe it or not there is a lot of truth to that. A lot of people’s success can be attributed to the power of networking.  

In Chinese the word Guanxi literally means “relationships”. It is the first word any businessperson learns upon arriving in China and has been touted as one of the main strategies used in the booming Chinese economy. So what does Guanxi have to do with me you ask? 

In order to be successful in your industry and continue to grow and develop your business it is of the utmost importance that we focus on our Guanxi talents. The “art of relationships” as some Chinese business leaders refer to it. The personal connections we develop are vital to doing business. All things being equal, people like to deal with people you know and can rely on. 

Guanxi goes back thousands of years and is based on traditional values of loyalty, accountability and obligation. Over the years it has grown into connections, personal relationships and networking. It is relationships that can inform and educate you. So as you move forward stay focused on the core art of Guanxi which is skillfully building mutually beneficial relationships. 

There is a tool now to help you build mutually beneficial relationships known as LinkedIn. Remember your old rolodex? Think of LinkedIn as your superconductor rolodex. From LinkedIn website: “The purpose of the site is to allow registered users to maintain a list of contact details of people they know and trust in business. The people in the list are called Connections. Users can invite anyone (whether a site user or not) to become a connection.”

The network you have developed throughout your career is one of your most valuable assets. On LinkedIn you can “Manage the information that’s publicly available about you as a professional; find and be introduced to potential clients, service providers, and subject experts who come recommended; be found for business opportunities and find potential partners and gain new insights from discussions with likeminded professionals in private group settings.” 

The Groups feature is another valuable tool that LinkedIn offers. This allows users to establish new relationships by joining alumni, industry, or other professionals groups and network for business opportunities, news and feedback on ideas. 

You can view my profile on LinkedIn HERE . It is free and very easy to get set up on LinkedIn. Take your power of guanxi to the next level and get “linked in” today.

…or you don’t get through the gate.

I am continually amazed by some people’s lack of both pragmatism and grace in various business situations. One of the most obvious ones is dealing with individuals who are obviously “gatekeepers”. To me a gatekeeper is anyone who is clearly standing between you and an individual or group you want/need access to.

Why should I care?

In my undergraduate management class we talk about “power” and its sources. They include things like hierarchical position, control over information, network of allies and several other attributes. A gatekeeper almost always wields a deceptively large amount of power and influence for several reasons that relate to these power bases.

First, they are often very close to the principal in question. If they are their admin or adjutant they are typically intimately aware of their boss’s goals, needs, opinions etc. This person is usually personally chosen by the executive and has the executive’s interests at heart. Their success is bound up in their boss’ (at least at some level). They have “referred hierarchical authority” from their boss.

Second, because they aren’t a senior executive (or at least are less senior than the boss), they are more accessible and thus are privy to scuttlebutt and gossip their boss may not be. This puts them at the center of information networks with “insider knowledge”.

Third, due to both these things bosses often put a great deal of value on their assistant’s view of others. Why? These folks see others in less formal or guarded settings than the boss does. Most of us can control ourselves in obvious power situations where a superior is watching us. How you act when no one is looking is much more revealing. Gatekeepers tend to have a better view of this aspect of us. I have seen people lose six figure opportunities over subtle office issues around how candidate treated staff in situations the hiring manager didn’t see, but heard about.

Fourth, these people are often the ones charged with creating order in their bosses hectic worlds. Most senior execs are out of control and the admin manages this as best they can. They can lock down a calendar and completely deny you simply based on schedule and (your lack of) priority.

In my experience, a bad run in with an admin or exec assistant can actually be more damaging than a bad run in with the boss. Why. I can forgive you jousting with me, I might even give you credit for standing up for yourself if professionally done. Treat my assistant badly and you’re just a bully. Same as going after my son or daughter. No quarter will be given. View the offer as gone if you were an intern or the promotion off the board later in your career.

Conversely, being favored can yield special access, quiet behind doors praise, special knowledge of information others (even senior execs) don’t have access too. This can be as simple as getting 5 minutes to brief the exec on an idea while others are rebuffed. But this access is precious.

How do I develop support?

So, given the importance of gatekeepers, how do I develop rapport and influence without coming across as craven and just a brown-noser? This is just a specific case of applying concepts on building support from my earlier post. Read here for general guidance.

My point in this post is to focus your attention on how important gatekeepers are in the general scheme of things.  In many cases, simply treating them nicely (not even going above and beyond) will go a long way. Showing interest in someone whose whole job is to serve someone else who is the center of attention can be very comforting. You’ll be surprised at how much people will tell you if you simply demonstrate respect and make time to hear about their day.

In the end, do unto others as you’d have them do unto you.

The Link between Prostitution and Sex Trafficking by Marko Kananen
Trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation is one of the most outrageous human rights violations of today. It is the third most lucrative activity of organized crime, following trafficking of arms and drugs.

The Art of Guanxi, Part III: Relationships in So Many Words by Valerie Sartor
Guanxi vocabulary contains both semantic meaning and moral connotations.

10 Helsinginkatu: Chapter 15 by Thanos Kalamidas
We ended up in the same place again drinking cappuccino and eating cinnamon buns. Lately I have the feeling that we are like a long-time married couple, we have said all the important things so we know what each other thinks without talking about it…

Dino & Anty #36 by Thanos K & Asa B
Dino is a vegetarian virgin dinosaur and his best friend is Anty, a carnivorous nymphomaniac ant.

I recently attended a supply chain management roundtable at IUPUI. The panelists were IUPUI professors and experts in varying areas of the subject. One of the most interesting discussions was on different types of business relationships between customers and vendors and the positive and negative correlations of the characteristics of each on the other. Very exciting, I know.

One of the areas I found interesting was the discussion on relationships in the Chinese business culture. Now, I know I got some of you to perk up. Some of you are thinking about or are already full steam ahead on programs and strategies to increase your business overseas. Others are seeing increased dealings with business leaders and companies from China who are established here in the U.S.

What I found interesting was this concept of guanxi. In the U.S, some might classify the practice as bribery. But in China, it is an expected practice.
At its most basic, guānxi describes a personal connection between two people in which one is able to prevail upon another to perform a favor or service, or be prevailed upon. The two people need not to be of equal social status. Guānxi can also be used to describe a network of contacts, which an individual can call upon when something needs to be done, and through which he or she can exert influence on behalf of another. In addition, guānxi can describe a state of general understanding between two people: “he/she is aware of my wants/needs and will take them into account when deciding her/his course of future actions which concern or could concern me without any specific discussion or request”.
Here is an example used in the discussion:
The president of X company just landed a large contract with Y company. In their discussions, the President of Y company learned that the President of X company attended college at the University of Hong Kong. The president of Y company explains that his daughter is very interested in attending that university, as well. Their conversation ends and the president of X company is worried because he knows that he now has to find a way to pull some strings to get the other president’s daughter into the university.

President Y never asked president X to get his daughter into college, but it is implied that he must help.

If he succeeds, does this help him keep his business with this company in the future? Maybe. Would we, in the U.S., consider that a special gift or bribe? Probably.

There is a consensus among the studies I looked into further that over 50% of respondents (Chinese business professionals) believe guanxi is necessary in order to maintain a competitive advantage.

I pose this question….

Will the role of guanxi diminish in Chinese business culture as China moves toward a more open market system?

Off the Shelf: An in-depth look at something I am reading.

Are We Rome? (2007)
-Cullen Murphy, managing editor of the Atlantic Monthly.

Murphy’s examination of how America’s experience of “empire” compares to Rome’s empire can lead some to question if America is in danger of crumbling? This led me to examine causes for worry that American hegemony might be at an end, and to see whether or not China possessed some of America’s strengths and weaknesses.

Murphy describes traits of successful empires. He notes the importance of technology and innovation, and the spread of culture. He complains about political patronage, American exceptionalism (Manifest Destiny), and argues that privatization induces corruption and helped lead to Rome’s decline.

TECHNOLOGY/INNOVATION
Technology and innovation in China still lags behind that of many developed countries, Nicholas Lardy of the Brookings Institution would argue. Although patent applications are up and the number of college graduates continues to rise, the quality of the graduates is hampered due to less-than expert teachers. When programs increase enrollment five or tenfold in size within a decade, either more students are packed into a class, or less knowledgeable teachers are paraded onto a stage.

As of 2005, America and Japan lead the world in patents by a large margin. with 186,000 granted to Japanese, 135,000 to Americans, 64,000 to Koreans, and 21,000 (6th on the list) granted to the Chinese. In terms of Engineering graduates, in 2004 the US graduated 137,000 students with Bachelor’s in Engineering degrees; India graduated 112,000; and China, 354,106. “In terms of degrees awarded per one million citizens, the United States awarded 758 degrees; China, 497 degrees; and India, 199″ (National Science Teachers Association). Additionally, some “Engineers” graduated by China may be the equivalent of motor mechanics and industrial technicians (ibid).

However, 20-30 years down the line, after constructing a more robust learning supply-chain, China’s educational investment might begin to pay off significantly. According to the Economist; “By 2015 its research scientists and engineers may outnumber those of any other country. By 2020 it aims to spend a bigger share of its GDP on research and development (R&D) than the European Union.”

CULTURE/ASSIMILATION AND WEALTH DISTRIBUTION
Murphy claims America, like Rome, draws power from immigrants, but he notes that some places with high levels of multicultural variegation, such as California can become anarchic amalgams unless care is taken to instill a sense of civic responsibility and lower the wealth distribution differential.

Currently, the United States confronts rates of CEO pay at 430 to 1 where back in the 1960s they averaged of 25 to 1 of an average workers’ salary. The Ancient Romans suffered rates of 1000+ to 1. However, China also confronts a significant wealth distribution differential with a Gini coefficient only .03 points lower than the US’ (More Detail Here).

Indeed, the 2008 unrest in T*b*t can be partially attribuited to “unfair” Han Chinese exploitation of the region. The report, “No One Has the Liberty to Refuse“, written in June 2007, demonstrates how the 2008 protests originated for reasons other than alleged “cultural repression” (An Audio Clip is available HERE; A shorter article is HERE). Thousands of T*b*tans have been relocated into the cities, where they cannot find work, and where they compete with Han Chinese for jobs. Life has improved in T*b*t in the past decade, with an economic growth rate over 12% for “six consecutive years,” government-subsidized schooling and social programs. However, new Chinese immigrants whose numbers were buoyed by the 2006 rail line, have begun to culturally and economically colonize the under-developed region.

Immigration and tourism- seeing millions more than before the rail was opened- create a culture clash potentially much more deadly than the one in California forecasted by Murphy.

PATRONAGE
Murphy then complains about patronage through a focus on Pliny the Younger. He laments the appointments (suffragium) in the government based on connections in both ancient Rome and modern America.

However, as any scholar of China will be quick to note– China is notorious for the practice guanxi and an almost religious attraction to ”patronage-like” associations based on friendship rather than efficiency. 

Ultimately, most, if not all countries suffer from overriding patronage; from Britain’s old boy’s clubs, to the French ecole class of Administrators, to America’s old Ivy League elite.

There is always a danger if patronage appointments are completely unaccountable; but disasters have a way of dismissing incompetent leaders. For example, Hurricane Katrina led to the downfall of Michael Brown, and China’s SARS crisis allowed Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao to demonstrate courage and leadership by staying in Beijing during the crisis; while other leaders, notably members of Jiang Zemin’s clique,  left Beijing on trips to SARS-unaffected provinces. Arguably, Hu and Wen’s actions helped strengthen their political capital to the detriment of Jiang’s “Shanghai Gang” which has since seen members such as former Shanghai Party Boss Chen Liangyu sacked for corruption.

AMERICAN AND CHINESE EXCEPTIONALISM
The Middle Kingdom long enjoyed a position as the center of the East Asian world. Diplomats from as far as Vietnam and T*b*t would kowtow to the Emperor. This position changed after the 1860s and the Opium Wars. But now, the Middle Kingdom is trying to get back at the world’s center. China’s naval developments and interest in ports at Gwadar, involvement in the ASEAN+3 grouping, establishment of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization), and greater involvement in the UN peacekeeping operations demonstrate an increasing willingness of China to act internationally. [A forthcoming article will examine these assertions.]

PRIVATIZATION OF MILITARY/CORRUPTION/HOLLOWING OUT
Murphy also discusses how contractors and privatization of American military are hollowing out America’s defensive spirit in much the same way mercenary barbarians contributed to Rome’s downfall. The contractors’ training and standards of justice are allegedly dissimilar from those upheld by the American military.

China seems to escape the problem faced by America; its cyberterrorism/cybersecurity is controlled tightly by the government. In contrast, even United States’ Government’s systems are outsourced to private companies- thus the spat over a proposed Huawei/3M merger.

China’s military problem appears to be not that it outsources its military development, but that it doesn’t have good enough internal development. C4I and equipment integration, as discussed in books on China’s military by James Mulvenon and David Shambaugh, are better in America and other developed countries. China also purchases many ships and airplanes from Russia instead of through internal construction. As China develops its home defense industry, this problem might dissipate.

CONCLUSION

Ultimately, Murphy presented an intriguing historical comparison of American “empire” and Roman. He identifies weak points in America’s government and military and raises calls for concern. But although China lacks several of America’s weaknesses, it still confronts remarkably similar obstacles and has many of its own challenges to overcome.

Murphy’s book is recommended for general readers, and for those interested in America’s position in the world. It never mentions China, but in an internationally anarchic system of diplomacy, the loss of power for America might well be a zero-sum game that gives China a leg up, so it is interesting to analyze the possibilities.

Kazakh Superstitions

Mukhamet Shayakhmetov wrote in his book “The Silent Steppe” (p. 241) that Kazakhs are superstitious.  My friend Kim confirmed that information by telling me some of the superstitions she has encountered while living in Kazakhstan over a decade.  Kim, her husband and children used to live in a Kazakh village the first half of their stay and so she knows much about real Kazakh living.  Very different from the big city life of Almaty which is really NOT Kazakh from looking at the outside veneer.

One superstition Kim knew of was in keeping one’s home clear of evil spirits, the Kazakhs would collect a kind of holy grass from the mountains to burn it and shake the smoke around the house.  Another was to keep the home immaculately clean before going to bed at night.  A messy place would only invite unwelcome evil spirits to come lodge during the night.  (to my mind, nothing superstitious about that!!!) However, another way Kazakhs warded off evil spirits was to put a knife under the “besik” or swinging bed.  Kim also told me that a specific, significant bone from an animal would be picked clean and hung on the wall.  She admitted she didn’t know much about that tradition but she knew there were many other Kazakh superstitions.

Kazakh Life Events in the Home vs. American Mobility

Naturally Kim’s orientation is around the home being a mother of four children so she has observed that for Kazakhs, life events are very important such as birth, circumcision, weddings and death. Even though the Kazakhs come from a nomadic tradition, their homes in a yurt were the center of their universe.   That is why I suppose “leaving on a jet plane” for lands faraway holds little significance for Kazakhs.  However, for us Americans who come from a land of immigrants, a major life event for us is departing for lands unknown. Kazakhstan

I recall when teaching at a university in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan 15 years ago, my Krygyz dean did NOT understand about jetlag messing up one’s sleep cycle.  Why couldn’t the Americans disembark from the plane and jump right in to teach the hour after we arrived?  My illustrious Kyrgyz dean painfully understood jetlag once she visited the U.S.

Kim reiterated that Kazakh life events were very important and that their form of Islam does not take place in a mosque but rather in the home.  She had witnessed first hand how women memorialize a deceased loved one with their amazing musical abilities while they improvise a song of grief.  Such as when Mukhamet wrote in his book about his mother who very eloquently made a mournful improvisation after the loss of a dear family member.  According to Kim, for her it was haunting but beautiful to hear the Kazakh women’s strains of music in their improvised songs of grief.

Children Need to Memorize Kazakh Proverbs
Back in the U.S. we used to have the saying, “Children should be seen and not heard.”  That is back when the U.S was more of an agrarian society and there were many children sitting around a farm family table. It was only fitting and proper that children be seen at the dinner table and the adults were the ones to do all the talking.  This tradition fits along with Kazakhs where their young children were encouraged to sit and listen to the older and wiser members of the family.  Early on the Kazakhs were expected to listen and learn, really listen to the stories told orally and commit them to memory.  It was also the duty of adults 40 years old and older to use proverbs that they had memorized to explain life lessons to the children.

Again my experience teaching for a year and half in a Kyrgyz university 15 years ago showed the Kyrgyz students picked up the English language quickly despite the lack of any western style textbooks simply because the young people were good at memorizing and listening to intonation patterns.  That is essentially what language learning is all about, listening, imitating and memorizing.  I observed that oral skills prevailed in learning English for the Central Asians but understandably not written skills which requires certainly more reading.

That reminds me of something else Kim told me about some of her Kazakh helpers who have no concept of putting books away on a bookshelf.  Since all knowledge was committed to memory and living in a yurt and moving from place to place according to the season, Kazakhs owned no books.  Therefore, her Kazakh helpers will typically put books back upside down or binding cover to the inside and not facing out so you can read the title.  I suppose when westerners grow up from kindergarten on with access to libraries, you don’t realize that those without books or libraries would even care how to “properly” place a book on its shelf. 

Forbidden Subjects Among Kazakhs

What is taboo in general talk among Kazakhs?  Obviously money is not, nor the lack of it.  The borrowing of money is okay too.  However, nothing regarding the home and its personal affairs is allowed such as if a parent is having trouble with a child or if a husband is beating his wife.  All those topics are verboten outside the family.  Kim told me about a young bride who was getting initiated into her new family and having to serve her in-laws.  If the father-in-law was not happy with the way she served him tea, he could beat her.  That is why it is said the bride wears braids because once married she has no time to even fix her hair.  So busy is the young woman learning all the family traditions in her new home under the tutelage of her mother-in-law.  Kim said there is even a tradition she heard about where the in-laws wash each other’s clothes to show their solidarity with each other.  However, it is the bride who must suffer and keep all this pain to herself especially if she is married into a domineering family.

Neighbors and Mutual Indebtedness

Kim also related how being one’s neighbor in Kazakhstan is very important.  She told me about her neighbor in Almaty who had a goat.  When Kim’s youngest daughter was born and wasn’t gaining much weight, her Kazakh neighbor took it upon herself to daily bring goat’s milk for the baby to plump up.  Kim wanted to pay her neighbor money but the woman would have nothing to do with payment.  All she wanted from Kim was a promise of “insurance” that if anything happened to her goat, Kim would pay for the vet’s bill.  This reminded me of when I lived in China where the Chinese try to build “guanxi.” Where you are mutually indebted to another person, they can exact a favor from you on their own terms if they have done something for you earlier.  Money is totally out of the picture, it is a “I’ll scratch your back, if you scratch mine” approach.

Some cultural afterthoughts

Of course, Kim and I talked about many other things as we sat on top of the Kok Tobe hill the other day.  Such as men are the only ones now to greet each other with “assalai magaleikum!” and the response in kind is “Aleikum assalaam.”  Also, how important it is for men to find others born in the same year as they were born, called kordas or something like that.  As if Kazakh men who share the same birth year are blood brothers.

One last thing that Kim told me and I’ve personally observed in my university setting is that the Kazakh people need someone to blame for their misfortunes.  This is because for them as Muslims, Allah cannot be blamed.  An example Kim gave was when a family had 7 girls and 3 boys and one of the boys died.  The death was attributed to a Russian who had just moved into the neighborhood and supposedly gave the boy the “evil eye.”  Someone else, outside of the clan, is to be held responsible for any sadness visited upon the family.  We talked of many other things but I wanted to document those things I remembered most vividly from Kim’s own experiences in this culture and land of Kazakhstan, a place we want to know and love.

Myrrl and his friend David are here. It’s funny to see Myrrl with someone so clueless about China. You feel sort of bad for him talking about his views of Chinese culture. He’s got a PhD in Psychology and wanted to talk about diagnosis and stuff like you’d find in the DSMIV. But he also runs an Amish restaurant. So family-owned business is a good topic too. Holly really hopes he hits some sort of too-close-for-comfort issue about Zhi Mian.

Myrrl’s telling stories of back in the day when the Jin Ling Hotel was the only skyscraper in the city, and only foreigners were allowed in. People would gather outside and just stare up at it. There was a piano bar inside with air conditioning that CEEers would retreat to during the six week SLPs when it was 42 degrees dropping to 37 at night. It was a hellish summer and no good food anywhere. Ruthie had a miscarriage. They’d drape themselves in soaked towels to try sleeping.

And Myrrl talked about Sebastian and how much money he makes playing poker. Thousands. It’s hard to motivate him to go get a job. I wouldn’t want one either. Holly talked a bit about her dream for this organic farm/guesthouse and Myrrl was dismissive, as expected. He wants Zhao Xing to learn to cook and then start a Sichuan restaurant/teahouse/massage place in Harrisonburg. “Now there’s a man with a dream,” I said. I think when he dismisses things it’s sort of an implicit challenge to show him the goods. He’s heard too much talk to put a lot of faith in it till it’s done. That’s my impression at least. Holly gets so insecure with him, even though she doesn’t want to work for MPC anymore. She’d still like to work with them but to be her own person outside that “mission field” (which is a word they use so much he laughed).

The idea of existing outside all the guanxi is so attractive to her and to loads of young people she thinks. Myrrl was saying the simplicity of life is why so many Chinese people end up going to the States. They just don’t have to play all those games. Myrrl says he intentionally subverts a lot of that with the visiting scholars, so much so they’re surprised he knows how to toast and do all that Chinese stuff when they have their farewell banquet.

He has fun trying to figure out the relationships though. If you treat it like a game it’s interesting. Peter Yuan is supposedly a really smooth political operator, as Holly saw in Kunming’s PIC this year. That was surprising but not, as he is the president of the Sichuan CCC or something. And he has the support of MPC and that gives them their connections. And Fuller wants Xuefu to go back grovelling to the seminary before he can study in America. Oh politics!

Three things that make china so different but also difficult to handle:

Number one is pride on their own culture. China looks back on thousands of years of history. This makes it to one of the worlds oldest continuous civilisations – and Chinese people are aware of it. China is called Zhongguo (中國 or 中国) in Chinese, which is translated “Middle/Central Kingdom” or german “Reich der Mitte”.

Number two is the Guanxi. This is a system of relations between single persons, it determines how you treat your friends and enemies, depending on how close you are with them. Guanxi is widely misunderstood by the western world. If they are connected only loosely to their business partners, it allows the Chinese to cancel contracts without worries. So family relations and friends are crucial for this. If two persons went to the same school or university, this is a good base for such a relation.

Number three goes hand in hand with it. The so called Renqing stands for gifts or favours in the social network. In order to “not loose the face” Chinese generally have return gifts that they received from close friends. In a western sense, this would be assessed as bribery, but in China it is fully legitimised.

So how to pull the hairs?

This country with its worlds biggest army is not so easy to conquer, so one has to see, how to adapt these basic customs, to find a solution for general conflicts. Hair Number one – hard to handle. Pride blinds eyes and ears. If the western world would adapt to this, we probably had to submit to Chinese rule. Not good. What about Guanxi? If Western worlds would follow the principles of Renqing (send lots of gifts to China) and just wait until China would pay its debt, wouldn’t that work? On “Chinese Gift Day” everybody would collect presents for the PRC (People’s Republic of China), and send them over to the party head office.

Well, but things in China are deeper. At the base there are tight relations. Around 80 to 90 percent of wealth is earned by cadre, the good connections rule. As mentioned above, the visit of the same school can be enough to introduce some determination in the tightness of the relation. So if you want to speak their language, it is not enough to learn the words, but also be able to read between the lines. It is just a bit hard to build up a close relation if you have just a very little in common. So, here are two ways to solve the problem: first, find out school mates of Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao, hijack and brainwash them and at last install them on top of U.N., America and E.U. institutions. If the brain wash was successful, time will do the rest.

Just in case this doesn’t work, all that needs to be done is find possible offspring from Hu and Wen, hijack and brainwash them, and then marry them to the offspring of the leaders of the institutions above.

Once this is done, send gifts to the head office and receive the payback. Their faces won’t drop to the floor, China can keep its pride.

The Three Hairs would rest secure in the boys hands.

(This blog-post is influenced by the fairytale “The Giant with the Three Golden Hairs”)

Detained by security for trespassing on an unrestored section of the Great Wall.

Eyes hot, vocal chords straining, fingers gripping my arm, the officer hollered into my face. Alternately he glared at my friend, similarly gripped by another officer.

We deserved it. We were at Mu Tian Yu, a farther and less visited section of the Great Wall. What you’ve seen in all the photos is Ba Da Ling, a section restored through great effort. Vegetation had worn down the original wall, stones wedged aside by roots. The Mu Tian Yu section was similarly restored, but at one far end we could see the raw wall. It fascinated us; it beckoned with historic authenticity. A sign across the partition forbade access. We climbed over anyway, to trek along an area few people see.

Unlike the paved stone elsewhere, here the top surface was mainly dirt, grasses and shrubs. Each side had crumbled into a toothy edge. We’d traveled past two partitions in wonderment before a pair of huffing security guards caught up and seized us. Intent on pressing forward, we hadn’t even realized we were being pursued.

I broke a few rules in China. The prospect of being deported or ending up in a Chinese jail didn’t seem realistic to me. Yes, I was brazen and stupid. Yes, the Great Wall officers were right to be furious. My friend and I were being ugly Americans, acting as if the rules didn’t apply to us.

Recognizing this, in the face of confrontation we assumed the opposite attitude: meek submission. Our shoulders slooped, faces fell; our eyes became concerned. “Dui bu qi (Excuse us),” we kept repeating, “Women bu ji dao (We don’t know).” It was the argumentative version of a judo throw, using the attacker’s momentum against him: move with a shove and the shover topples.

And so he did. After a tirade of several minutes, the officer escorted us back to the tourist area in silence — then, miraculously, began speaking in a lightened tone, agreeable, nearly jovial. He asked about our families; we asked about his. He even allowed us to take a photo with his underling. By the time we reached the parking lot we were all great friends.

Bizarre? Welcome to face.

In a culture that valued harmony and conciliation, losing temper was shameful – a loss of “face” or respectability. Because the guard had unleashed his full temper at us he became supremely uncomfortable, and felt the need to redeem his status in our eyes. Our contrite demeanors had left him floundering on a limb by himself, behaving in a manner uncalled for by the social situation. The resulting turnaround in his demeanor was striking.

The need to save face disinclined the Chinese to say no. A flat negative not only shamed the issuer (selfish!), it also shamed the receiver by suggesting the request had been inappropriate, that it had supposed too much of the relationship. Instead of saying no, the Chinese hemmed and hawed – or even answered yes while intending not to deliver. Such cases (I called them “pocket vetoes”) avoided direct and embarrassing scenes of rejection. Lin Da administrative staff used them often against me. The most striking instance occurred when I reserved the karaoke room for a party with my students. We showed up with food and decorations, all 48 students there for the event, only to be told the room was in use. It wasn’t – that was just the line I’d forced them to resort to because as an American I hadn’t realized I wasn’t well enough connected to book the karaoke room. Without access to a suitable space, we had to abandon our party.

During that year I grew into the habit of using pocket vetoes myself. It felt strangely comfortable to say yes but think inside, “Fat chance of that, you’re asking too much of me.” If by not delivering I left them in the lurch, well, it was their fault for asking the wrong person. This habit was still with me when I returned to America until, no lie, I lost a part-time job over it.

Entailed in the pocket veto was the concept of guanxi, or relational “pull.” In a Communist country where money was (hypothetically) evenly distributed, people climbed in rank and prestige through guanxi: favors granted to and obtained from others. It was all about connections: a total stranger had zero guanxi, no connection to you whatsoever. If she was in need of a bicycle pump, or if she drop her dongxi (stuff) all over the ground, you had no obligation to help – nor even any real motivation, because doing so would obligate her to repay the favor. No use creating needless obligatory relationships.

A best friend had tons of guanxi. You helped him, he helped you. Mental tabs kept relationships equitable — do something helpful for me, and you could expect a returned favor. In fact it would be incumbent upon you to allow me to reciprocate.

Guanxi could be paid off with gifts – a scroll of calligraphy, say, or a music CD. Gifts were even given preemptively — if someone bought you something nice without occasion, you could expect that in a day or two that person would ask for an out-of-the-ordinary favor.

You could pay off what you owed one person by tapping into what someone else owed you. When my mother visited me in China, the father of one of my students sent a cab to drive us to the Great Wall. “This must be expensive,” I told Tiger. “Tell your father thank you very much.”

“No, it is nothing,” Tiger said. “My father helped this man, and he owes my father a favor.” Tiger had guanxi with his father, who had guanxi with the driver of our cab, who therefore drove two Americans he didn’t know to the Great Wall.

You may wonder how I paid off such a huge favor. It wasn’t the only one: the week my mother came to Beijing my students showered her with gifts. Each time she unwrapped an ornate tea cup or calligraphy scroll, I winced. “Keep enjoying it,” I told her in private. “You get to hop on a plane and leave — I’m the one who’ll be stuck paying off all the guanxi.” What would my students want in return for honoring my mother?

Thankfully, nothing — teaching apparently instilled in students a sense of obligation, so mine had used my mother’s visit to pay off some of that guanxi.

Beyond the classroom, however, I was fairly guanxiless. I knew no one beyond the Lin Da Foreign Language Department, nor in Beijing for that matter. I couldn’t offer anyone free meals or hotel stays or cable TV access or car access or anything of the sort. All I had to offer was English. Yes, occasionally strangers approached me to ask for tutoring — and yes, I could have cultivated such opportunities, using them to develop my own guanxi. But away from my students I was more interested in learning Mandarin. So I remained a featherweight.

The guanxi system operates in America, too, only much more subtly. I can’t imagine anyone in America buying me a framed painting in order to ask me for tutoring.

Unrestored section of the Great Wall — sealed off to visitors, foreigner and national alike.

On an unrestored section of the Great Wall.

The restored Great Wall that visitors see. This is Badaling, the more popular section.

In one of the stations of the Great Wall, Mu Tian Yu section, with fellow teacher (right).

Read next ->

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 8, Rising ingenue and model Celeste Thorson, represented the United States and shined at the Asia Model Festival Awards in Seoul, Korea winning the Model Star Award. The star studded event held at the J.W. Marriot in Seoul on January 18, 2008 featuring many Asian celebrities and icons. Stellar performances and appearances by Celeste Thorson, Super Junior, Ha Ji Won, Jang Nara, Hyun Young, Ju Jihun, Han Ye Seul, Kim Ye Seul, Jeon Hae Rim, Jang He, Shin Hye Sung, Jang Na Ra, Ha Ji Won, Ju Ji Hoon, Park Min Young, Jang Hyuk, Ai Dai, Iza Calzado, Freddy Aguilar, Girls Generation, and Racing Models thrilled the audience. American models Celeste Thorson and Todd Mithcell got all the laughs and successfully took home the Model Star Award in the Best Female USA & Best Male USA category.

“I really enjoyed the Asia Model Festival Awards, and was honored to receive the Model Star award. The Korean Model Association, Eui-Sig Yang, SBS, DBC Holdings, Global One, as well as all of the sponsors made our stay very comfortable and exciting. The show was beautiful and the fashion of Blumarine, Jong-Sun, EXR, Ran Style & Lie Sang Bong was inspiring. I met so many beautiful and friendly models from around the world. I especially enjoyed meeting Iza Calazado, Ai Dai, Super Junior, and Angel Agustin they were very sweet. I loved all of the performances and can’t wait to return! ” said Thorson after returning to the United States.

6 countries including, Korea, Japan, China, Philippines, Uzbekistan, and the United States sent models to participate in the lavish fashion shows. Designers Lie Sang Bong Paris, EXR, RAN STYLE, Blumarine, JINDO ELFEE, YEWON Hanbok, by Jong-Sun, Kang, took the stage with spectacular catwalk shows featuring the top models from each country.

Sponsors such as Bently, Kenzo Perfumes, Xavix, CCTV2, Spela, Missha, Japan Model Association, Korean Model Association, China Guanxi Television, Arirang, HDK, EsquireSharp, Tony Moly, Apparel Coma, RNX and many others made the event and exclusive gift bags a global promotional success.

SOURCE Gammanova Productions
LOS ANGELES, CA

Beilin Hotel (and the taxi fleet headquartered there).

Beijing Linye Daxue owned and operated a hotel (Beilin, “North Forest”). And a taxi fleet. And a gas station.

Useful services for faculty and students? Hardly – they were pitched at the public. Which begged the question: how did they relate to the mission of a university? Money. The university had capital; why not use it to bring in extra revenue through business? Wasn’t that what capitalism – no, a “socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics” – was all about? (For a successful model they needed look no further than American college sports.)

Midway through the year, Lin Da began renovating apartments in its Foreign Experts Guesthouse. Coincidentally, it also contracted fewer foreign teachers, freeing up more units. Leasing apartments to outsiders turned out to be quite lucrative.

Further, side businesses served as “perks,” reflecting the Chinese principle of guanxi: whoever had the pull got the favors. Ranking university officials enjoyed owning a hotel to accommodate visiting family and friends, as well as a taxi fleet to transport them around the city. When they took the university car for a spin, their own gas station could give them a free fill-up.

And with access to such services, officials could grant favors to others, thereby amassing still more guanxi.

Foreign Experts Guesthouse. My apartment was on the fourth floor on the right, facing the other direction.

Read next ->

Senin,26 Nov’07,18.00pm,Kho/e/oon Pasar Festival 

Pertemuan yang kerap dilakukan apalagi berbelas x dengan orang dan jumlah yang sama pasti mempunyai satu tujuan,satu motivasi dan persepsi yang mengental,hari ini untuk yang kesekian kali saya bertemu kembali dengan kawan-kawan,mereka adalah kumpulan dari para professional handal dibidang masing-masing.

Topik yang kami bicarakan adalah seputar dari hasil rencana minggu lalu,banyak yang kami share dan koreksi akan perubahan yang tidak sesuai dengan rencana sebelumnya,itulah bentuk pertemuan-pertemuan yang saya adakan bersama mereka selama 3 (tiga)bulan belakangan ini,dengan mereka terjadi pewarnaan kehidupan saya yang baru tentang mimpi-mimpi yang selama ini menghantuiku,semoga ini jalannya untuk mewujudkanya,bersama mereka telah terbentuk satu koneksitas yang sejalur.

Seperti biasa intuisku berkata bahwa mereka belum menjadi satu ‘guanxi’ yang kental,tapi harus diakui mereka adalah kumpulan yang hampir menuju kearah itu saat ini…gute nite bro!   

Sabtu,24 Nov’07,13.00pm,Solaria Resto & Cup n Kino Cafe Plaza Semanggi

Ketika kita terkenang dengan masa lalu saat itu akan timbul sesuatu yang kita rasakan entah itu berwujud perasaan marah,tertawa ataupun menangis,terkadang semuanya menjadi satu,adakalanya kita juga berusaha mengingat dengan sekuat tenaga tentang satu peristiwa tetapi tetap saja ingatan itu tidak utuh seperti nyatanya apalagi jika peristiwa itu terjadi lebih kurang 20 tahun yang lampau,hmm apa ya??lali aku rek!

Hallo… ya Rik sebentar lagi aku sampai sabar ya,begitulah saat saya mendengar lagi suara dari seorang kawan yang telah lama tak jumpa [20 tahun] disiang tadi pada saat kami berjanji unt bertemu di sebuah plaza,ketika saya sampai dimeja makan resto tempat kami berkumpul,terlihat 14 kawan lama satu sekolah,di SMA favorit dikota pahlawan telah berkumpul,ada rasa senang dan haru disana,walau tidak begitu akrab pada masa itu namun karena terdorong oleh waktu yang lama tak bertemu membuat kami begitu cepat akrab dan menyatu,sesuatu yang indah pertama menghangatkan jiwa terpancar saat itu.

Perbincanganpun telah melebar kesana kemari menembus cakrawala waktu,hal yang tadinya tidak teringat pada saat kita sengaja mengingat menjadi begitu terang saat kita bersama kawan lama,saling mengingatkan telah menutupi memori-memori yang ‘Slek’ sehingga menciptakan sebuah memori utuh yang dapat kami nikmati bersama,itulah keindahan untuk yang kedua saya nikmati hari ini. Waktu adalah ‘Raja di Raja’ yang menguasai bumi ini,dialah yang dapat merubah dengan pasti apapun yang mengisi dunia,termasuk saya dan kawan-kawan,itu bisa terlihat dari bentuk tubuh kami,ada yang bertambah gendut,rambut memutih dan juga mengkikis hingga botak he2 itu mengingatkan kami bahwa waktu kami mengisi dunia semakin sempit[apalagi saat kami saling menceritakan bahwa sudah ada beberapa kawan yang telah meninggalkan bumi ini,peace bro!]

Waktu dan waktu itulah yang mensemangati saya untuk menghadiri acara komunitas ini,3 tahun belakang saya memang getol untuk menghimpun dan melacak keberadaan komunitas lama saya yang telah hilang,ada beragam penilaian dan intuisi saya saat menilai ke 14 kawan lama ini,walau platform belum terbentuk menjadi satu,tetapi saya yakin mereka juga mempunyai satu motivasi yang sama bahwa keberadaan kami berasal dari sumber yang sama [saat mempersiapkan masa depan] walau individual pribadi kami tercipta berbeda,saya akan berusaha memasukan mereka dalam daftar guanxi!ku itulah keindahan saya yang ke tiga hari ini…gute nite guys