Speaking of contracts and hétong, how exactly are they different? The differences have been the source of endless trouble in relationships between Chinese and Western organizations, with Westerners leveling accusations of dishonesty at the Chinese, and the Chinese chiding Westerners for their inflexibility.

If you want the take-home message of this post, just read the last paragraph. If you want the dirty details, read on. The question at the end of the last post looks innocent enough: Are there human rights in China? Given everything we discussed about how language works, though, it seems we’re treading on very [...]

Shifting gears today from the psychological to the linguistic. It’s hard to talk about the importance of words without sounding trite — a testament to the privileged place of language in our human-ness. The problem is that we can get ourselves into trouble if we’re not clear about what we mean by “word.”

So you’ve laid them bare, all the “shameful” thoughts. Now what? The first instinct is often to reject, to wish the thoughts away. “That’s not really me,” we think. Or, a common response to some of the milder thoughts is to believe them, to reaffirm them: “Well, Chinese really are [insert stereotype].” Neither of these responses will [...]

Building on the last post: One aspect of China life that keeps me going back is how it pits my highest and basest selves against each other. For anyone, an honest engagement in that struggle cannot help but yield rewards: for your organization and for yourself.

These past two weeks in Beijing, charged with guiding Americans with little or no exposure to China through their initial, often strong reactions, I was reminded so many times of my own initial struggles almost 18 years ago. Time had dimmed for me the power of my own reactions. As a hot-headed and very American [...]

There’s nothing that stirs the intercultural pot quite like throwing together young people from two very different cultures and watching what happens. I had the privilege this past week of observing, and guiding, such a clash when 20-odd American and 20-odd Chinese youth roomed with each other in a remote location near Beijing as part [...]

There’s a colleague of mine whom I finally had the opportunity to meet in person today, after several months of occasional emails. As we sipped beverages in the hot, sticky Beijing July air — Coke for me, specialty Hefeweizen made in Wuhan for him — the conversation turned, as it often does in China, to [...]

Today an old friend and I had dinner at a quaint little spot in southeastern Beijing. We talked shop about an American organization we both know well, and some of its latest China moves — and how little sense they make.

I’m in Beijing doing some intercultural work, and have been reminded of how easy it can be even for an American with years of experience in China to fall back into default cultural behaviors and fail to make adjustments.