Prepare Yourself for China: The Visitor's Survival Guide to China. Second Edition.
By Brian Bailie
()
About this ebook
Hit the ground running with this essential know-how and friendly advice based on a decade of personal experience plus the hard-earned wisdom of dozens of veteran expats.
Indispensable knowledge from the school of hard knocks, punctuated with real life anecdotes, this essential survival guide gives you the confidence to take China in your stride and prepare for the extraordinary everyday situations that other advice books overlook.
The casual writing style and easy reference sections make this China survival guide an indispensable and entertaining addition to your library, and will help you avoid making the same mistakes as the countless thousands who have gone before you.
Included is a concise business section that describes Chinese business culture, business meeting survival tactics; plus a brief description of your choices of business entity, and an overview of the hoops you need to jump through to begin exporting your products to the world's most exciting economy.
Read more from Brian Bailie
Alzheimer's Timeline: A Layman's Study of Dementia In the Family Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Broncle, a Curious Tale of Adoption and Reunion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBible Nuts and Bolts: Key Bible Topics Simply Explained Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRaising a Smile for Northern Ireland Children's Hospice Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Prepare Yourself for China
Related ebooks
The Complete Guide to Escorting: Advanced Techniques Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Travel to China: Three Tourist Cities Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTravel Like You Mean It! Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Down (But Not Out) in Beijing and Shanghai: The Comedy Side of Business in China Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to be Chinese: A step by step guide how to survive and enjoy the madness in China Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Road to Burnout Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAmerica For The Newbie Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Complete Guide to Escorting: Getting Started: 2017 Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Deceive the Dragon: Negotiating to retain power Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSpies, stalkers and thieves Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn Becoming an Uber Star Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/510 Tips For Hotel Safety & Travel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gambling , Sex and Tragedies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSave Me From My Cell Phone Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRemember When...: Recollections from a Montana Generation Xer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChina Survival Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShe's At Your Door: Exposing the Escort Industry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInto the Underneath: She Killz Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Essentials to Leasing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings25 Curated Ways To Get Rid Of Telemarketers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Travel Securely Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEl Dorado? No! Heathrow Airport Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat Awaits You In South America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFramed!: Canada’S Great Northern Prison (The Worlds Prison for Terrorists) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsConversations with a Scammer..My Secret Life Online Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFirst Class At Last Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Smoking Ash (A Lester Calvin Mystery #1) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBar Talk Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe 90 Day Stay Atypical Travel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5How not to run a Hotel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Asia Travel For You
History of Japan: Revised Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lonely Planet Japan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fodor's Essential Japan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJapanese for Fun: A Practical Approach to Learning Japanese Quickly (Downloadable Audio Included) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/51000 Japanese Flash Cards: For Smart Phones and E-Readers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Learn Vietnamese: Start Speaking Today. Absolute Beginner to Conversational Speaker Made Simple and Easy! Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJapanese Mind: Understanding Contemporary Japanese Culture Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lonely Planet Tokyo Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTagalog Stories for Language Learners: Folktales and Stories in Filipino and English (Free Online Audio) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBasic Korean: Learn to Speak Korean in 19 Easy Lessons (Companion Online Audio and Dictionary) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tagalog for Beginners: An Introduction to Filipino, the National Language of the Philippines (Online Audio included) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJapanese for Beginners: Learning Conversational Japanese - Second Edition (Includes Online Audio) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Last Yakuza: life and death in the Japanese underworld Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMandarin Chinese for Beginners: Mastering Conversational Chinese (Fully Romanized and Free Online Audio) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/514 Days in Japan: A First-Timer’s Ultimate Japan Travel Guide Including Tours, Food, Japanese Culture and History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJapan - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEssential Tagalog: Speak Tagalog with Confidence (Tagalog Phrasebook) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beginning Japanese Workbook: Revised Edition: Practice Conversational Japanese, Grammar, Kanji & Kana Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tokyo on Foot: Travels in the City's Most Colorful Neighborhoods Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Basic Tagalog: (Audio Recordings Included) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Live Japanese Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Dishoom: The first ever cookbook from the much-loved Indian restaurant Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cool Japan Guide: Fun in the Land of Manga, Lucky Cats and Ramen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Prepare Yourself for China
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Prepare Yourself for China - Brian Bailie
times.
Introduction
If you’re planning a nice professionally organized package holiday to China, you’re reading the wrong book.
This book is written for business visitors and those who intend to take the road less travelled.
The Chinese Bureau for Tourism want this book banned.
Why?
Because I’ve been brutally honest.
What’s the point of writing a book on visiting China seen through rose-tinted glasses?
I have been accused of offering only worse case scenarios. But isn’t that what you want?
Do you want to learn from other people’s mistakes; or from your own?
I want you to hit the road running, to expect the unexpected, to roll with the punches; I want you to succeed at whatever you’ve travelled to China to accomplish.
China is an amazing place, it has a fascinating culture, a superb and varied cuisine. And it offers unbelievable potential for the ambitious, and prepared, businessperson.
Interpreters
I can’t emphasize it enough, China is not just another foreign country, it’s a whole other planet to the unprepared Westerner. Don’t wait until you arrive there to discover just how alienated you’re going to be. Unless your Mandarin is pretty good, without interpreters, I promise you’ll be seriously restricted.
Ideally you’ve already armed yourself with a phone-interpreter. Phone-interpreters are easy to use, at the end of your mobile phone 24/7, and can save you a lot of stress; save you from little problems becoming big problems, and they can save you money. For about the same price as cinema ticket, you can buy peace of mind, and travel with the confidence of a seasoned professional.
Personally, even with my years of experience, I’m uncomfortable travelling in China without an interpreter available at the other end of my speed-dial. Okay so this is a cinch for me because I have my own Chinese office staff to phone or text, but it’s worth checking out, and have it set up before you arrive. There are several good providers of phone interpreting services that you can book online before you travel.
I’m not trying to scare you, really, but I think it’s easier to learn from other people’s hindsight:
*I know an Australian businesswoman, freshly arrived from Pu Dong Airport, who hopped into a taxi for the (three-hour) drive to Hangzhou without taking advantage of the airport restrooms. Sure enough, before long she needed to go
. However her language skills failed her in her moment of desperation, and the driver simply mistook her pleading and gesticulating as a need to drive faster. Unable to communicate her predicament, she arrived in Hangzhou a little ahead of time, soiled and deeply humiliated.
*I have a mischievous expat friend who thought it would be funny to play a prank on his American visitor who had recently arrived in China bitterly complaining about the dangerous way his taxi driver had delivered him. The American asked my friend for the Chinese phrase for Slower, Slower.
But the prankster taught him the Chinese phrase for Faster, Faster.
You can image the results: The faster the taxi driver drove, the louder and more desperately the American screamed, Faster, Faster.
It wasn’t funny at the time, apparently.
*And, an Irish businessman I know was unwittingly drawn into an argument in the street over a stolen computer, and perpetrators accused the Irish guy of the offence, (he was to be their patsy). Unable to understand anything that was going on, he was arrested by the Chinese Police. The police demanded that he sign a document admitting to the crime, which he could neither read nor understand. He subsequently spent three months in a Chinese prison, until his family could arrange to buy his release.
Okay, so these are extreme examples of instances when it would have been very useful to be able to phone a friendly local, but you get the idea: interpreters aren’t just a luxury, they can prove to be essential.
There are two types of reliable interpreting systems:
• By-Your-Side,
• and Over-the-Phone.
By-your-side interpreters
This is great (for your ego), there is nothing to beat having your own personal guide to follow; however the cost is significant at about US$80 to US$150 per eight-hour day.
I’d recommend a by-your-side interpreter if you’re planning something like a specialized shopping trip or a business meeting, (in fact I’d demand that you acquire your own independent by-your-side interpreter for any business meetings or factory inspections if this is what you’re visiting for).
One drawback of a by-your-side interpreter is that they are by your side all day long, invading your privacy, wanting fed, listening to everything, knowing almost everything about you. If you enjoy your own privacy, this can be suffocating.
Another serious drawback of a by-your-side interpreter is if they are leading you to people and places where they know they’ll get a kick-back on anything you buy, or any deals you make. This is a really neat way for them to profit from your ignorance. As well as being led to their preferred contacts, you may find yourself invited to a Tea Party.
These Tea Parties have become a bit of a scamming cliché, but in case you don’t know, read on: You’ll find yourself in someone’s humble home, perhaps a frail old woman introduced as a special auntie. And you’ll be treated to a tea ceremony of sorts – all lovely and friendly. And once you’ve enjoyed the (average) tea and little old lady’s hospitality, you’ll be persuaded to purchase some of her very special
tea. It isn’t special tea, and she probably lives in a swanky new apartment across the road. The price you are being asked to pay for the tea is extortionate, even by best-of-the-best quality tea standards. I sent my Claire off one afternoon with a new interpreter, and he cunningly tried this scam on her. Claire felt really embarrassed about refusing the old woman’s price for tea; and we quickly gave that interpreter the boot.
Over-the-phone interpreters
These interpreters can prove to be indispensable: almost always available on your mobile phone, and ready to answer your call when you need them.
Over-the-phone interpreting is such a simple system for visiting China with confidence, and it’s a system that’s also used by Westerners who live and work in China. I know several American and European expats who have lived in China for decades, who speak reasonably good Mandarin, yet they still depend on phone-interpreters for just getting about; the unexpected happens on a daily basis in China, and it’s very comforting to have a natural-born Chinese linguist