If you are traveling to China, living in China, have friends or family who just moved to China, or are going to the Beijing Olympics in 2008, here you can brush up on your Chinese etiquette (or better yet, send them the link!).
This a comprehensive guide written by an expatriate who has lived in China for over two years, complete with pictures, videos, “Insider Tips” (things you will never see in any book), and translations. Most important, it is current information from someone who learned by living it.
First and Foremost / Key Concepts to Understand Chinese Culture
- Relationships are deeply valued in Chinese culture. Guanxi or ‘relationship’ is an idea that is fundamental throughout society. Having friends, family, and business contacts to help you is very important.
- Face, or mianxi, losing face, saving face, and giving face are important concepts that should be taken into serious consideration at all times. An quick example of losing face would be to lose your temper in public.
- Being polite and courteous, or li. Chinese believe that proper etiquette preserves face.
- Keqi literally means, “guest” and “behavior”. It is most closely linked to being modest and humble. You’ll often times people says, “Bie keqi” (pron. “bee-ah kuh-chee”) which means “You’re so polite”, or “You needn’t be so polite.”
Tags: Chinese Etiquette Complete China Guide
Update: Complete Chinese Etiquette Guide just added (or look to the navigation on the top right).
China is going through rapid change. Having said that, I have about 13 books on Chinese language and culture, and guess what? Most of them give dated advice. For example, one book mentions that “if you want to go camping in China, you’ll be on your own as there are no camping supply stores.” This couldn’t be further from the truth.
So, in the next few weeks I’m going to be posting a Chinese travel and etiquette guide. It will address much more than what you can read in any Fodor’s travel book and will be, to say the least, current.
There are a lot of expatriates and foreigners who blog about little pieces of the culture here and there, documenting their experiences and pointing out the differences. It is definitely helpful, but I thought it would be good to have all the information (with pictures) in one place.
If you are about to come to China, have a friend or relative who just arrived in China, or you are going to the Olympics next year and you want to get the current inside scoop, check back soon.
Tags: Chinese Etiquette China
How much does a one-year visa extension cost? As of July 2007, the price of a visa extension in China nearly doubled to 760 RMB. The price for a half-year extension and a one-year extension is the same (760 RMB). I checked at the Kunming visa center and at my city’s local visa center, and they both confirmed this.
Also, if you are going to extend your visa, you are now required to get a health check, or “ti jian”. Don’t worry, the health check is nothing more than a blood test to see if you have any diseases (HIV, hepatitis, etc). The health check costs anywhere from 0 to 100 RMB and you can go to a local hospital and they’ll give you the results back the same day. They will give your certificate with the doctor’s signature on it, along with your results and your blood type. Then take that back to the visa office and fill out the visa form (don’t forget your picture!)
If you own a house in China and you have the deed to your house (which can take over a year to get after you purchase it), you can apply for a three-year residence card. However, they require that you apply for the one-year visa first, to “show them that you don’t cause any trouble.”
From what I’ve learned, a marriage certificate is not is not enough to apply for a residence card, you must have a house deed with your name on it.
Tags: visa China
If you would like me to write up an entry on this painstakingly long task (of getting a green card and moving back to the US), let me know.
We finally got our exit interview in Guangzhou and will be back in the US in November.
In other China news:
- Wikipedia is blocked again (at this point though, who cares, really).
- It’s been raining for the last 7 weeks.
- Here in Chuxiong, the amount of tourists went from zero to about 100 per day in the last year, pretty amazing. (Mainly domestic travel, but a few foreigners here and there).
- They are expanding Yi Ren Gu Zhen to seven sections now (we were the first, then they added the second, now they are adding five more. Each section represents about 200 high-end houses and storefronts).
- They are going to reroute the train track that cuts through the development.
- They are displacing the farmers without any compensation, even when they protest. Don’t you love capitalism?
- (When I say they, I mean the developers and the government.)
Tags: News Chuxiong House China Chuxiong