Job Discussion Forums

[Explorer]

Preservation of self via rice first, offspring next; of face via pride or revenge. Guanxi.

[TEECHER]

Get over your preconcieved notions. Lives are expendible in China. Move over, make room, get out of the way, unless you have guanxxi. We have the same behaviour in the West, nicely disguised in many guises of "democracy". Same behaviour, only under different political regimes. Life goes on around the world controlled by those who control the behavior of those beneath. Those beneath will overcome...believe it.

[Dr.J]

Thanks for the replies; I think the facade one certainly outlines the negative character of the Chinese. In my experience that applies to many other countries in the world, but perhaps not to the same extent. Is there anything more on the positive side?

PS, I freely admit to being ignorant, but what does 'guanxi' mean? I believe it means 'problem', but to have it seems like a good thing. eh?

[Steiner]

"Guanxi" refers to your social connections, your relationships with others, your "pull" with those who can help you. Guanxi is what you foster so that you can call in favors. Guanxi is vital if you are to benifit from "it's not what you know, it's who you know." Guanxi gets a poor student into the best school in the area. Guanxi enables a slacker who couldn't care less to hold down a well-paying job. You can get most of the things you want, you just gotta have guanxi. No doubt someone else, someone who's been here longer than I have, can clue you in better than I have done.

As for positives about the national character, well, there are a lot. Let me preface this by saying that my Mandarin is survival level, so there are a lot of things that I can't pick up on yet. Positives: The people are very friendly and interested to know about my wife and I. There's been a lot said about the ugliness towards foreigners, but most people are very kind and utterly hospitable. They'd give you their last pair of underwear if it was all they had to give. We sometimes feel bad when we go to our poorer students homes and they feast us. We wonder how they manage to afford it, but they do and they consider it THEIR honor. It is extremely humbling. The last time we took a bus trip back to our small town from Changsha, the bus driver started talking to us and ended up driving us (in the bus) all the way back to our school, which is about five miles from the bus terminal. OK, I've got to go, I'll write more in a bit.

-------From here on is added as my edit, Minhang Oz was the only poster between the first and second parts-----------

The driver was done with his runs for the day and was heading home but took the time to drop us off. We talked as much as we could and he ended up inviting us to his house for dinner.
Earlier the same day, my wife and I were walking on a mountain near Changsha. It was raining pretty hard and we came across a building, so we decided to duck in for cover. All the other buildings we'd passed had been public pavilions or monuments, but when we looked into the door of this courtyard we could see that it was someone's home. The homeowner saw us and said hello. We told him we were sorry to intrude and made to leave, but he invited us in. As it happened, neither this man, his wife, or his friend spoke Mandarin (they only spoke the local dialect). But it didn't matter. We sat and talked a while anyway, everyone smiling and as happy as could be. They could make out a little of our Mandarin and we kept apologising for not understanding them, but they still made us feel as welcome as old friends. And now, I think, we ARE old friends. If we ever pass that way again, we'll stop in with a gift.

I could go on about the respect and love we receive from our students, or how the Chinese are able to suffer hardships that would drive almost any American (well, me) to bitterness and despair and yet remain cheerful. But I won't. Good night to you.

[Minhang Oz]

Steiner
I was trawling these pages looking for the chance to crack a few cheap jokes-you know, Friday night and all that - when I saw your words that rang so true. Thanks for reminding me why I enjoy this place so much.
ps where'd you get my photo?

[Steiner]

Thanks, Minhang. The photo? If that looks like you, then we must be lookalikes.

[Hamish]

[arioch36]

Steiner.

Just read the post. Excellent.

But I still love China!

[Bertrand]