First. Thanks you for checking out the blog. A friend posted a link on FB about it. Thank you. If anyone has suggestions about what you would like me to write about by all means email me. I’m friendly. So on to today’s lovely topic.
I guess that I should reflect upon what I have learned while living here for the past 8 months. So I am going to start a series or something to that effect on things you learn here in the PRC. Now if I could only find that paper, I wrote them down somewhere, dang, hold on.. Ok found it. Alright. These aren’t going to be the usual oh gee, remember that the power outlet is 220v and not 120v. These are going to be more introspective and personal things along with a few tidbits of info. So lets start.
Part 1, deceive and be deceived.
If any of you know me personally, you know who I am and how I act. I’m quite, shy, humble, and honest. I like to think that’s the way people see me. My family has raised me well. So the last thing that I want to do is deceive people. Then I found out what business really is. I would say that there are different levels to this deceive and be deceived idea. Whether you have a powder stash and don’t want anyone to know, to the I am trying to get money out of you, I think those are two different things. Everyone deceives. Here in China, a lot of people deceive. It can be a face issue. I don’t want to look bad in front of my friends or employees. Or it can be a negotiating tactic. There is a lot more negotiating here then in the states. Here is a little story that I read in a book. Mind you I am paraphrasing but you’ll get the picture.
So this dude is a warrior, kills people. He goes to this village and makes friends with the head guy. He walks through the village with this bad ass sword sheath, gold and what not. So he drinks with this guy and they have fun and do whatever dudes do a thousand years ago. I’m guessing drink a lot. So they have a bite to eat and drink by this river. If the head guy knew who this other dude was he would never hang out. So the warrior guy is like, lets trade swords to show our friendship. The head guy was like, hells yeah, your sword handle is bad ass. Then the warrior guy was like, how about a little spar for fun. The head guy is like, sure why the hell not. So the head guy pulls out the sword and find that it’s made of wood. Total fake out, so the warrior guy kills him and does a dance or whatever warriors do.
We as westerners see this and are like. Damn he totally faked his ass out. Yep, is that ok, well no.. In Asia, as far as I know, they feel that the warrior was smart and tactiful. Therefor awesome. So it’s ok to deceive people here. How does this apply to modern China, well, I’m trying to think of a way. I suppose that if I wanted to take photos for someone and they’re photos they had were good, I could say they suck or something. Then get the job and take the cash. I here stories of companies setting up, looking good, foreigners come here check it out. It’s all good, they give them some investment money. Then all of a sudden the company is gone. What happened? Well, the company never exsisted. It was a fake just to get the investment from the foreigners. After they got it, bam, they left rich. Is this right, well it depends on how you look at it. I suppose if you are Asian, and I am making an assumption about this, then maybe it’s ok, because you are showed you are smarter then the investor. In American eyes, not cool. So I suppose it depends. Would I ever do anything like this, no. I don’t want anything done like this to me therefore I wouldn’t do this to anyone else.
So deceive and be deceived. Whether it’s good or bad, it happens everyday all around the world. I guess that you notice it more here in the PRC. Either that or, I am getting to know what business means. It could be the same in the States, I don’t know for sure. I wasn’t really into business when I was there. Not like I am now by any means.
Next time I will pick another random topic. Which one, well your guess is as good as mine. Til then.