Over Labor Day weekend I got together with an old friend — a fellow I once taught Chinese to, who for a couple years made a quasi-career out of advising Western leaders on the ground in China about how to do business. I asked him to tell me a few stories. He told me of [...]

In some earlier posts on the business of culture, I’ve referred to three precious resources that are hard to come by and easy to squander in China: time, money and goodwill. The third one may be a bit of a puzzler. To the American eye it may look out of place alongside the twin kings [...]