Tag: China Tips

What time is it there? Tips on scheduling when doing business with China

I have been living in Beijing for over four years now. To this day, probably the most frequent question I get on phone calls with the U.S.A. is “So – what time is it there?” I sometimes find it amusing that people can’t figure it out, particularly with people that I communicate with on a regular basis (“It’s the same time as it was the last week!!!).

Having said that, I was reminded this week while traveling to Monaco for a conference of how difficult juggling international phone calls and virtual meetings can be. I found that Monaco is 6 hours behind Beijing time. I had to keep that in mind during the conference as I needed to coordinate with my team in Beijing. On top of that, I had to schedule a few calls with the U.S., which typically is 12 hours behind me in Beijing. Since I was in Monaco, though, I had to readjust as Eastern Standard time is 6 hours behind Monaco. Things could’ve really gotten ugly if I had to coordinate with someone in LA or even Dallas, all of which are on different time zones, of course.

To make sure you keep things straight when talking to China and don’t miss a meeting because of a time mix up, here are some quick tips:

1. Google It – Simple and easy. Literally just google “What is the current time in {insert city here}.” You will always get the actual current time reliably. ‘Nough said.

2. Check for Daylight Savings Time Observations – Even though Google can be your best friend at the moment, its always good to plan ahead and know about when times are going to change. It’s pretty interesting to see which countries observe daylight savings time and which don’t. I always have to keep in mind that when I’m communicating with the U.S., from March 8 to November 1 I am 12 hours (EST) ahead in Beijing, but from November 1 to March 8 I am 13 hours ahead. Each country is different, though, which makes it more complicated. Some observe it, some don’t, and each country is on its own schedule. For a complete list, check on Wikipedia.

3. Use clear language and time indicators when scheduling emails – I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been burned on this one. Countless times I’ve been on the line waiting for someone to jump on that never comes, only to get an email the next day from the person I had a meeting scheduled with say “Oh, jeez, I’m sorry I thought you meant 10AM EST…” Tired of getting burned on this, I now always make sure to include in each email a very clear, all CAPS indication of time for each person on the call and specify the date depending on the time. For example:

“Mr. Johnson,

We are confirmed to have me call you on your office phone, (999) 999-9999 at the following time:

NEW YORK TIME: OCTOBER 25, 2015 at 8PM

BEIJING TIME: OCTOBER 26, 2015 at 8AM

Looking forward to our discussion.

Sincerely,

Dan Redford

Phone: 999-000-0000

Make sure to always leave both persons’ phone numbers in case there is any confusion.

4. Bonus Points: E-Calendar confirmation – Whenever possible, make sure to send an e-invite to the person and have him/her or his/her secretary confirm the invitation. That way, it syncs with both calendars according to each person’s respective calendar in his/her respective time zone. The one I use is the gmail calendar, but you can adjust depending on your preferences.

5. Save money: Use Facetime or Skype – We live in the 21st century, people. International calls can be expensive. If you are having a two or even three way call, Facetime or Skype can be a great way to carry out your conversation free of charge. Note: I did not mention Google Hangouts here because unfortunately Google is still blocked, and hosting a google hangout in China is not very reliable.

Obviously, this is not an end all solution as it is highly dependent on having a stable Wifi connection. Still, particularly if you are having frequent calls, you would do well to get in the habit (or getting the person on the other end of the call to get in the habit) of using Facetime or Skype. It saves a lot of money and is way more hip. As I say in the example in number 3, make sure to leave both phone numbers as a back up.

 

Good luck!

 

 

 

 

 

Say What? A Quick Primer on Chinese Tones and Dialects

There is no way around it: Chinese is hard. There really is no substitute for learning Chinese than moving to China and completely immersing yourself. Still, if you regularly do business with China, it is good to at least know some of the basics of the language and appreciate why it can be so darn hard to master.

The difference between Mandarin and Cantonese

First of all, there are many different dialects and versions of the spoken Chinese language. A common misperception by foreigners is that the dialects are much like variations in accents, such as the difference between a Michigander’s accent and an Alabaman’s. The dialect differences in China are much, much more severe than this. Practically each province, even down to each local city or village, has a different local dialect. Typically, these dialects are unintelligible from one another. For example, someone from Hunan province would not be able to understand someone speaking in the local Sichuan dialect of Chinese.

Luckily, the playing field has been leveled a bit due to the pervasiveness of Mandarin Chinese, which is known as the “common Chinese language,” and is the official language of Mainland China. Another widely spoken “version,” also often referred to as a “dialect,” is Cantonese. It is mostly spoken in the southern part of China, mainly in Guangdong province and places like Hong Kong. Historically, many Chinese that immigrated to America were from Canton, and so many Chinese speakers in the United States come from a Cantonese background.*

As the official language, Mandarin boasts close to 1 billion native speakers. In my experience, native Cantonese speakers are usually also able to understand and speak Mandarin, as opposed to the other way around. I personally learned to speak Mandarin, as do most people that study Chinese. Generally, when a someone says “I am learning Chinese,” they almost always are referring to Mandarin.

How Tones Make You Sound Foreign in China

The trickiest thing about Chinese is the tones. Tones are key to attaching specific meanings to sounds in the Chinese language. The Cantonese dialect operates on nine different tones, whereas Mandarin only has five. The most frustrating problem for English speakers trying communicate in Chinese is that often they can remember and say a word phonetically correctly, but if the tone is wrong, their message might not get across.

I’m not going to go into how to master the tones too much as there are plenty of tutorials online that give you the basics, such as on ChinesePod. If you don’t have any plan to try to speak Chinese fluently, you don’t have to worry about it too much as people can understand your simple phrases. But what you should at least know is that pronouncing these words with the wrong tones is similar to when you hear a non-native English speaker speaking English with the wrong pronunciation. I.e., saying “ni hao,” the Chinese word for “hello,” with the wrong tones is like when you hear someone say “Sank You” as opposed to “Thank you.” You understand the meaning, but you know it sounds funny.

Understanding You Sound Foreign is a Good Thing!

Surprise, surprise, this works both ways! You sound foreign in China! A humbling reality, no doubt, but once you admit and understand it it can be an enormous source of personal growth. I believe accepting this reality makes it easier for you to do business in China as you can better understand and empathize with your Chinese counterparts. Chinese people truly value people with humble attitudes, and admitting you sound foreign sure helps the humble part of your persona come out. Additionally, back at home in America, it will make you more sympathetic to immigrants and other foreigners that struggle to speak English correctly.

Sank You For Reading! Now, go and embrace the foreigner in you by learning a few Chinese phrases and dare to use them wrong!

*I edited this from a previous version of this article, in which I referred to Mandarin as an “overarching dialect.” That is not really true, as Mandarin is the common Chinese language. Other versions, like Sichuanese, Hunanese, etc., are by definition “dialects of Mandarin.” Cantonese is a bit trickier because it is so widely spoken again and has many more tones than Mandarin Chinese, though it is most often referred to as a “widely spoken dialect.”

Understanding China’s Work Holiday Schedule

September 16, 2015

One thing that often trips up business travelers to China is the unique Chinesecalendar-20clip-20art-calendar holiday schedule. It has not been unheard of for Westerners arriving to plan rapid-fire meetings only to learn they accidentally overlapped their trip with a 4-day holiday that “came out of nowhere.”

Never fear! Here are some useful tips for you to understand and plan around the Chinese work holiday schedule like a pro.

  1. The Official 2015 Chinese Public Holiday Calendar

Thanks to Baidu.com, here is the official 2015 public holiday calendar in China. (The original post is in Chinese, I translated to English. Click this link for the Chinese version.)

 

Holiday Public Holiday Time Compensation Days (explained below) total off days
New Year’s 1/1 – 1/3 Sunday, January 4 is a work day 3
Spring Festival 2/18 – 2/24 Sunday, February 15 and Saturday, February 28 are work days 7
Tomb Sweeping Festival 4/4 – 4/6 Monday, April 6th is an off-day to make the holiday a 3-day weekend 3
Labor Day 5/1 – 5/3 Monday, May 3 is an off-day to make the holiday a 3-day weekend 3
Dragonboat Festival 6/20 – 6/22 Monday, June 22 is an off-day to make the holiday a 3-day weekend 3
WWII Victory Day Festival 9/3 – 9/5 Friday, September 4 is an off-day, and Sunday September 6 becomes a workday 3
Mid-Autumn Festival 9/26 – 9/27 The weekend days are the holiday 2
PRC National Day 10/1 – 10/7 Saturday, October 10 becomes a work day 7

2. Explaining the Tiaoxiu “Compensation” Days

China has what seems very strange to Westerners: tiaoxiu, or “compensation” days. Depending on when the holidays fall, the government will essentially move the work week backwards or forwards a day to allocate consecutive days for the rest period. For example, you’ll note above for the New Year’s holiday that though the holiday itself was from Thursday, January 1 to Saturday, January 3rd, the following day, January 4th, was denoted as a work day. Thus, the holiday is designed for people to get their “three-day weekend” starting on Thursday, and return to work on Sunday.

This year was particularly strange as the Mid-Autumn Festival days, which depends on the lunar calendar, fell entirely on a weekend and also very near to the succeeding National Day holiday. Employees in China were not robbed of their precious days off, however, as the government scheduled the much publicized “WWII Victory Day” Celebration at the beginning of September. The compensation day voodoo was again utilized here as Thursday the 3rd to Saturday the 5th were off-days, but people returned to work on Sunday. Plus, this made up for the “lost” days of the Mid-Autumn Festival

3. Understanding China’s Spring Festival Holiday

The big one that trips people up is the Spring Festival. Since the holiday is based on the lunar calendar, the timing of this week-long holiday varies year to year. Generally, the official public holiday will fall sometime between mid-January and the end of February, but you should always pay attention to when exactly the holiday will be months before making any business travel.

While the official public holiday is only a week, the Chinese Spring Festival holiday is akin to what we experience in America around Christmas/New Year’s time, but on steroids. China is really slow for business throughout most of January and February, and starts building up momentum again only after the holiday concludes. As I’ve written about before, China is home to the world’s largest human migration every year around the Spring Festival. Many employees will take all their available vacation days around that time to extend the holiday. Most business owners are traveling home or perhaps abroad.

My best advice is to get what you need to get done before January 1st, and then wait until after Spring Festival to make your trip to the Orient. Looking ahead to 2016, next year’s Spring Festival is slated for February 7 to February 13.

4. Plan ahead

The good news is that now this doesn’t have to be a total mystery to you if you merely plan ahead. The Chinese government typically issues the official public holiday schedule sometime between December 9th and December 14th. You can check back on this blog around then to get the scoop!

How to get around China’s Internet Firewall: VPN Tips

September 8, 2015

One question I get most often from people about living in China is: “How do you use the Internet while in China? Isn’t there a lot of censorship?” Of course it is true, China does have a significant level of censorship that restricts access to alot of web content. Most foreigners frequenting China on business are probably most impacted by the restriction on websites commonly used at home for communication or news. We are talking about social media sites like Facebook and Youtube, news sites like the New York Times, and the most irritating of all, all Google-family web portals including Gmail. If you are surfing the web in China and try to get onto these websites, you will be wholly unable to connect. Talk about a buzzkill.

GET AROUND THE FIREWALL WITH A VPN

The good news is that you can get around the Firewall using what is called a VPN: Virtual Private Network. With VPN software on your computer or mobile device, you will be able to literally jump over the China internet firewall to connect to the Internet using an IP address from a country that does not restrict internet access. Thank God for technology!

VPNs are easy to get and relatively easy to use. One word of advice is to make sure you purchase and download the software BEFORE coming to China as sometimes it is hard to reach the VPN websites within China because (surprise, surprise) those VPN company websites are also blocked here.

WHICH VPN?

There are many choices when it comes to VPNs. Personally, I have been using Astrill for the better part of two years. You can sign up for as low as $5.83 for a month subscription and can add-on a subscription for your smart phone or Ipad. ONE IMPORTANT THING TO NOTE: At the moment, Astrill is getting hit hard by the Chinese government censorship bureau.  While the desktop Astrill VPN seems to be working fine, the iOs (Apple Iphone and Ipad) systems are having a very hard time connecting. This may pass in the next few weeks as things change, but for now if you need to get access on your iPhone you may want to get a different VPN. Despite this, I still recommend Astrill as it has the easiest user interface and the iOs blocking will probably pass soon. What can I say, I’m a loyal consumer.

Another good choice is ExpressVPN. I have used it in the past and was happy with it, although again I switched to Astrill when ExpressVPN was previously targeted by the government. At the moment, it appears Express is having less problems than astrill. Express is similiar in pricing to Astrill, and they are also offering a 30 day money-back trial.

Those VPNs are the two most used amongst my friend circle here in China, but you are welcome to shop around as there are many, many choices. Here is a list you can browse from. If you find one that works well, please drop me an email and maybe we will feature it on the blog. Oh, and if you happen to get Astrill, please consider adding my email as the referrer so I can get a free month add-on ;). I’d owe you one!

3 Quick Ways to Impress Your Guests at the DCBA Chinese New Year Gala

Today, February 24th, marks the end of the official Chinese New Year holiday. But, the party doesn’t have to stop. In fact, my friends at the Detroit Chinese Business Association are throwing a belated Chinese New Year Gala this coming Friday, February 27th, at Motor City Casino. Lucky for you, I have three quick CNY tips that you can use to impress your Chinese guests.

1. The many ways to say “Happy New Year!”

There is an assortment of Chinese phrases used to express Happy New Year. Here are a few:

新年快乐 (Pinyin： Xīnnián kuàilè!; prounounced: shin -NEEan – kwai – le）- This is the most basic, traditional “Happy New Year” greeting.

全家幸福（Pinyin：Quánjiā xìngfú；pronounced: Chew-enn Jia Shing-Foo) – Here you are wishing their entire family good fortune.

万事如意（Pinyin：Wànshì rúyì；pronounced: Wan-SHH ROO-EE)- Ok, this will REALLY impress them. It is a very traditional phrase meaning “Good luck and may all your wishes come true.”

If you can’t remember them, you can always download Google translate (iPhone, Android). Make sure you are translating from CHINESE TO ENGLISH, and then paste the Chinese characters I wrote above into the translation window. You can click on the little speaker next to the phrase and the phone will pronounce it in Chinese for you. Pretty slick.

2. Download WeChat

If you’re doing business in China and you or someone at your office doesn’t have WeChat yet on your smartphone, GET IT NOW! WeChat is used prolifically in business, and according to statista.com, there are now over 438 million active monthly users. It is by far the best way for you to keep communication with your business partners in China, and new friends you will make at this year’s gala.

Trust me, your Chinese guests will be really impressed when right after you meet them you say “Hey, can I add your Wechat?” You can read in Forbes about how WeChat was used across China during this Chinese New Year.

3. Gan Bei! Cheers!

Drinking is a huge part of the Chinese New Year tradition. So you can survive, and thrive, at this year’s Chinese New Year Gala, you need to remember the phrase for cheers in Chinese, “Gan Bei” (pronounced GAAN-BAY). Critically, make a point to cheers everyone INDIVIDUALLY at your table, and if you’re up for it, everyone around the room. Don’t be lazy! Clinking glasses with everyone for a personal toast is very important, and it should be fun. If you can remember to add one of my Happy New Year phrases above, you get bonus points!

I hope you enjoy your time at the gala and that you find these tips useful. If you do happen to use them, I would love to hear about it! You can write me at danredford10@gmail.com or tweet me @DanRedford. Gan Bei!

"Gan Bei" with my girlfriend and her cousins for Chinese New Year 2015 in Yueyang, Hunan Province
“Gan Bei” with my girlfriend and her cousins for Chinese New Year 2015 in Yueyang, Hunan Province

 

Five Tips to Survive Chinese New Year

It is hard to believe that another year has gone by so quickly. Chinese New Year is on Wednesday, and festivities are already beginning. As I wrote last year, every year at this time in China we witness the greatest annual human migration. And once again, hundreds of millions of people will be moving across China, taking approximately 3.6 billion travel journeys.

This year I’m keeping it domestic, traveling with my girlfriend to her relatives’ home in Hunan and Jiangsu. For those of you traveling in China for the holidays, here are five tips to make sure you survive and have fun!

1. Be Vigilant!

The U.S. Embassy has recently issued a warning to be wary of potential terrorist attacks being planned around Chinese New Year. Although the odds are low that you’d be in the midst of something terrible like this, just please be vigilant as you are traveling this season. There has been an uptick in violent acts in public places recently throughout China, so be sure to keep your eyes open while you are shifting through huge crowds of travelers.

If you haven’t yet, take the opportunity now to register yourself with the state department if you are traveling abroad: https://step.state.gov/step/

2. Brush up on your local dialect

Since over half of China’s population now live and work in cities, the Spring Festival is an important time when families will leave the metropoles and return to see their families in their laojia, or hometown. Although the common language of Mandarin is spoken throughout China, more often in smaller cities local dialects are almost uniformly spoken. Make no mistake, local dialects are so different than Mandarin that even Chinese people cannot understand local dialects from outside their hometown.

Do what you can to brush up on a local dialect before your trip, but generally just reside yourself to nodding and smiling for most of your trip.

3. Get Ready for China’s Super Bowl，the famous “春节联欢晚会” Spring Festival Gala 

In the U.S., we like to think that hundreds of millions of viewers watching the Super Bowl every year is a big deal. China has us beat. The most widely watched television program in the world occurs in China every year. It is called the “Spring Festival Gala,” or “New Year’s Gala,” and it is broadcast live on China Central Television (CCTV) every Chinese New Year’s Eve.

Last year, the show garnered over 800 million viewers! According to statista.com, that’s almost as many as the number of people that watched the Super Bowl in the entire 1990s combined.

If you are spending the Spring Festival somewhere in China with friends and family, the tube will most definitely be turned to this on New Year’s Eve.

4. Get your excuses ready to turn down Baijiu

Baijiu, translated as “white liquor,” is the famous national Chinese liquor. It tastes a little bit like lighter fluid mixed with bubble gum. For those of us that have spent years in China, we’ve been able to develop a tolerance, perhaps even a likeness, to the “devil’s juice.”

But Chinese New Year is a whole different animal when it comes to Baijiu. If you are spending this time in a Chinese city, you have to be prepared to be tempted to cheers to baijiu again, and again, and again.

If you can’t handle it, don’t be embarrassed. Make sure you come prepared with excuses to turn down the frequent clinking of the little glasses. A real man can handle a little cajoling from the relatives better than he can handle copious amounts of the liquor itself. Trust me, your liver will thank you later.

Some of the best ones:

“I’m an American and Chinese New Year is not a holiday in America, so I have work to do and can’t be drunk.”

“I’m allergic.”

“I’m preparing for a decathlon.” (Bring athletic gear to really sell it on this one.)

5. Go Native

Wherever you might find yourself in China this Spring Festival, you’re going to find yourself with plenty of opportunities to share in local traditions. As the Chinese say, ru xiang sui su – “Do as the Romans Do.” Eat all the weird food. Get up early and join in the sometimes quirky “family exercises.” Keep offering to help cook the meal and clean the dishes, even though you know that they’ll never let you.

Whether you can speak Chinese or not, these efforts will be endearing and are the best way to show your gratefulness for being invited into their home for this all-important holiday. Plus, going native is the sure fire way for you to grow and learn the most during this time.

Happy New Year!

Top 5 “To Dos” for Governor Snyder’s China Trade Mission

Next week, Governor Rick Snyder will be traveling to China on his 3rd trade mission in as many years. Here are 5 things I hope he does during his trip (heck, I’d take 2!):

1. Bring home the bacon

Obviously, we need to see some real business deals signed that bring home jobs. There are at least 30 delegates going on the trip with Snyder, and I hope that at least one of them, such as Lori Huisman of Classic Design Concepts, can benefit from associating with the governor on this junket with a real business deal.

2. Declare that “密西根”is the standard Chinese name for the state of Michigan

It sounds crazy, but the state of Michigan does not even have a standard name in Chinese. There are at least 3 popular versions throughout China, but the state itself has never made it a point to standardize. The name 密西根 (pronounced mi-shee-gen) is the best choice and is already being implemented at the Michigan China Center in Shanghai, Michigan’s official office in China.

This will greatly help George Zimmerman, Director of Travel Michigan, and those of us Michiganders in China helping to promote our state!

3. Announce that he will personally sign visa invitation letters for serious real estate buyers

Quartz.com, and many other news outlets, commented about how Chinese have been going crazy over cheap buys in the Detroit Real Estate market. According to Fox News, though, many were unable to make purchases because they were denied visas to the United States. Ouch!

If the Governor signs an invitation letter, that goes a long way for a foreigner to get an approved visa. We could greatly avoid the missed opportunities created when serious buyers are denied entry. (Note: I understand that we don’t want the corrupt or the criminal entering either…proper due diligence on invitees would have to be a prerequisite.)

4. Pen a Sister City Memorandum of Understanding between Detroit and Chongqing

With almost 30 million people, Chongqing is China’s largest city. Lucky for Detroit, it is already sister cities with this giant! Snyder should re-ignite the sister city relationship by signing an MOU with their new party chief  to work towards sustained collaboration. (Ironically, the Party Chief of Chongqing was sacked last year in a corruption scandal and recently went on trial…I guess you could say there are some similarities between the two cities?).

5. Commission a “Detroit Dialogues” Series in Beijing

There are thousands of Michiganders and Chinese with Michigan ties that are ready to serve on the front lines to change the narrative about Michigan in China. We have access to corporate CEOs and government officials that we’ve worked with during our time here – – commission us to start a “Detroit Dialogues” series to get people talking about the realities of Detroit and Michigan. Consider this my application to volunteer!

Good luck to Governor Snyder and this year’s trade mission! 中国欢迎您！Welcome to China!