Job Discussion Forums

struelle · Joined: 16 May 2003 Posts: 2372 Location: Shanghai

This is turning out be a fascinating thread!

As I first learned it, the term meant 'going through the back door'. If you're in the guanxi loop, the back door is much more convenient and simple. The front door is a tangled mess of red tape, obstacles, and hidden fees. When you knock, you're greeted with a dirty look, and given parting words of 'bu xing' and 'mei you'.

No wonder people go through the back door and use their guanxi. The alternative is just not feasible, and I don't see this changing anytime soon.

A classic example: money transfers.

My credit card company in Canada wants me to pay off the balance of the card. No problem, I said two weeks ago. I have the funds in RMB, just need to transfer them over, it should take two weeks to do it.

First I tried the front door. I have an HSBC account here and RMB funds. To transfer money to my HSBC account in Canada, I phone them, and one person says I need the following:

- contract
- red and green books
- passport
- proof of salary payment and tax certificate
- authorization letter from employer

To confirm, I phone again and someone else tells me I don't need all those, but I go with the first person's info. It's a tremendous hassle to get the last two items on my list, since my school has never done this before. Turns out the school gave me the wrong paperwork, and I can't transfer the money. I give up.

Then I remember: Last year I knew a black market tote who helped me change RMB into US cash a few times. I still have his number and I call him up. 10 minutes later he rides up on his motorbike and we trade the cash. We throw a few jokes back and forth, then he flies out of there.

That's a major headache solved. But I still need to get the USD out of China and into my Canadian account. Unfortunately, that involves the front door again, and all the major banks charge major bucks for any kind of transfers.

So now I'm relying on guanxi again. If anyone here knows a way to transfer US cash into a Canadian bank at an affordable rate, I'll be more than grateful.

Burl Ives · Joined: 17 Jul 2003 Posts: 226 Location: Burled, PRC

They have guanxi, we have old boys networks: bulshirt.

Old boys networks sidestep institutionalised principles of equal access. China doesn't have principles of equal access. There is only guanxi. Have you never been frustrated by the simple irrationality of the decision making that goes on around you, particularly when you can see that cooperation would yield this or that benefit for so many concerned? How can people so stubbornly make the kind of ridiculous, systematically counter-productive choices that you can see every day? The organising principle is guanxi. Just wait until you're watching someone try to heal themselves in this miraculous age of universal healthcare.

oiboy · Joined: 05 Mar 2004 Posts: 142 Location: Middle China

tofuman · Joined: 02 Jul 2004 Posts: 937

"I feel bad for the guy BUT, come on. Is he like 13 years old or something???? If you can't stand up for yourself, WTF are you doing in China?"

I must agree.

There is something co-dependent about the relationships many of us have with our employers. Just remember that some people in abusive relationships end up deceased.

I must thank this sight for sparing me. I learned a lot about employer/employee relationships (?) here.

People with weak egos get defecated on.