Indirect Communication in China

Above: DiYiCheng Culture Park. For Chinese, dragon means power. These two dragons are playing with a ball, they are called Er Long Xi Du. Fountain is among the best that I have seen in China. Photo gallery below.


Indirect Communication - Who is Smart Now!
FUN FOR CHINESE - FRUSTRATION FOR FOREIGNERS

For foreigners, communication is one of the key challenges in China. Projects and business situations go wrong if communication between people don't happen, or if messages are misunderstood. Chinese read between the lines, make assumptions which might lead into problems.

Sometimes it's not lack of information. Reason for failures might be interpretation of Chinese indirect way of communication.

When Chinese communicate with each other, it's often a kind of competition, who is smart in here now? To be indirect requires the discussion partner to focus, and then construct conclusion out of a proverb or a saying, in a situation. This method is intelligent and softens confrontation with imagination.

1. DON'T DISTURB ME - Beijing slang
Na er Liang Kuai, Na er Xie Zhe Qu
= Find a cool place where you go to rest
Meaning:
Not now, don't disturb me, this is none of your business.

2. WRONG TASK FOR ME - Beijing slang
Nei Hu Bu Kai, Ti Nei Hu
= The heater boiler not boiled, was picked
Meaning:
You just pointed to the one thing that I am not good at.
That task is not for me, find someone else.

3. YOU HAVE DONE A GOOD JOB - Proverb
Gou Nien Jaza, Kvaa Kvaa Xiao
= Dog chasing a duck, kvaa-kvaa
Meaning:
This is fantastic! It's enough to say just GouNienJaza, listeners know the second part and may respond and say it out loud together. At least Chinese say it in their minds and feel happy, united.

4. IDEA IS FULLY CLEAR - Proverb
Xiao Chun Ban Doufu, Yi Qing Er Bai
= Spring onion mixed with tofu, one is green, one is white
Meaning:
Pretty clear, no problem with this! This proverb was used by former Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. His other famous saying was "When you are drinking the water, don't forget who did the well".

5. EXAGGERATION - Proverb
Hua She Tian Zu
= Paint snake by adding the feet
Meaning:
About overdoing something. First to draw a nice snake, people praise it. Then adding feet onto the snake to make it even better, and it becomes exaggeration. Snake is not right anymore and nobody likes it.

6. ULTIMATE EXAGGERATION - Beijing slang
Tuo Ku Zi, Fang Pi
= Taking off trousers and fart
Meaning:
A wasted and unneeded act which will not bring any positive results. Making things far too complicated with extra procedures. To say first part of this saying is enough, the rest is understood and repeated in the mind.

7. PURPOSE DRIVEN - Proverb
Hei Mao, Bai Mao, Zhua Zhu Lao Zhu Jiu Zhi Hao Mao
= Black cat, white cat, as long as catches the mice is a good cat
Meaning:
Purpose gets served. This saying was made famous by party's Secretary General Deng XiaoPing when China begun transition towards market economy. He also used to say When opening windows, also some mosquitoes come in.

8. EGG: ANYWAY YOU ARE WRONG - Proverb
Ji Dan Li Tiao Ku Tou
= Picking the bones from inside the egg
Meaning:
Trying find a mistake which was never done.

9. TIGER: CELEBRATE WHEN YOU CAN - Proverb
Hu Tou She Wei
= Starts with Tiger's head, ends with Snake's tail
New meaning:
Projects in China. Better have a big celebration already in the beginning, project kick-off, as result is unknown. May be there will be no second chance to celebrate.

10. DUCK: LOST BUT NOT GIVE UP - Proverb
Zhu Shu De Ya Zi, Zui Hai Ying
= Cooked duck, soft meat but hard mouth
Meaning:
Somebody has lost the debate but still defends hardly on his opinion. Knows himself there is no hope, but to save his face, still insists on.

11. PIG: THICK SKIN, NOTHING MATTERS - Proverb
Si Zhu Bu Pa Kai Shui Tang
= Dead pig is not afraid of boiling water
Meaning:
Knows himself as wrong or failure but doesn't care about it. It doesn't matter for him if categorized as a failure.

12. CHICKEN: WARNING BY EXAMPLE - Proverb
Sha Ji Gei Hou Kan
= To strain a chicken to show Monkey
Meaning:
To give a warning, to make an example by picking somebody else, but target may be you.

13. FROG: DON'T HAVE NARROW VIEW - Proverb
Jing Di Zhi Wa
= Frog in the bottom of the well
Meaning:
Don't be like a frog in bottom of the well, which sees only small part of sky through opening of the well.


Epilog
Chinese respect perfectionism. The needed balance is found by using proverbs and sayings to make parodies of ideas without directly mentioning them.

Chinese mind enjoys to challenge others to make quick creative association. Indirect communication is Chinese word art. It is used in families, workplaces, during meetings and even in negotiations where attitude and tone also have strong roles. New catching sayings are invented daily.

In negotiations, If Chinese hold strong position, they can feel confident and be direct instead of being indirect.

FOREIGNERS often find Chinese indirect communication frustrating, inefficient, and as means of avoiding responsibility.

My advise to foreigners who work with Chinese is to be a good listener. Don't try to change everything in China. If you make a question, try and learn also to listen what is not said but left out. Due to Guanxi, relations which is much more than just connections, it is difficult for Chinese to be exact, especially when asked to estimate the future e.g. market size, status of a project, probability of a sales win. Other factors to remember are facekeeping, sensitivity, emotional linkage and respect, and fragmented information availability.


BeijingMan aka Kippo

List of BeijingMan Postings

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DiYiCheng Culture Park
PICTURE STORY - ALL-IN-ONE CULTURE PARK

We escaped from Beijing and drove 70km (45miles) highway East to Xiang He, “Fragrant River”, which belongs to Hebei province. In an hour we arrived and found the main gate of DiYiCheng "Grand Epoch City". Meeting of Group of 20, G20 was held there a few years ago.

It is a large tourism and movie-making park, surrounded by 5 km of walls. It has 22 palaces and halls, a lake, water channels, parks and a red 5-star hotel. A lot to see and perfect place to go for photo safari into Chinese traditional culture. And DiYiCheng has scale!


Above-1: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
Main gate to is in front of parking place.


Above-2: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
This red building is a 5-star hotel inside DiYiCheng.


Above-3: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
For Chinese Qilin is about imagination and luck. Qi = male, Lin = female.

Qilin is Chinese legendary animal which "has dragon head, deer horn, lion eyes, tigers back, bear waist, snake skin, horse feet and pig tail. Female Qilin often has one horn. Qilin is always kind. It's a symbol of good luck which pushes away disasters. Qilin comes only when times are peaceful, and when a great man is born".

You can find lots of Qilin in Beijing where they compete with door lions. You can see Qilins and lions in pairs in front of banks and office buildings, usually smaller than these two Qilins in DiYiCheng.


Above-4: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
In real life these bridges look even sweeter than in these pictures.


Above-5: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
In duck boats you will be the engine. Big red building is 5-star hotel.


Above-6: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
Long corridors built on water, surrounded by lotus flowers. It was a sunny day and walking in the shadow of corridors was convenient.


Above-7: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
How you like that green color?


Above-8: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
Another good luck Chinese Qilin. No horn, maybe a male.


Above-9: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
At hotel yard the main elements are water and fountains.


Above-10: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
Red hotel looks impressive.


Above-11: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
Noisy acrobatic show.


Above-12: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
Watch shows, walk around, get surprised.


Above-13: DiYiCheng Culture Park views.


Above-14: DiYiCheng Culture Park has a lot to walk.


Above-15: DiYiCheng Culture Park views.


Above-16: DiYiCheng Culture Park walls are 5 km long.


Above-17: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
BeijingMan riding on Qilin! But on Dragon daily, he says.

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VISITED DiYiCheng Culture Park again.

Above-18: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
Both big Qilins (picture-3 above) had been vandalized. Both had two holes, 5-10cm diameter, in front and in the back of the body, through the body. Like sticks punched through.

This second visit was not as smooth as the first visit. We took rooms at big red 5-star hotel (picture-10). Suites were ok, had even own saunas. Problems came with services, which gad too much "provincial mentality".

Firstly, lunch at food street inside DiYiCheng Culture Park. Kitchens in those restaurants were in bad shape. Some cooks smoked while preparing portions. A lot of flies.After living 10 years in Beijing I feel that Hebei and XiangHe belong to another world while just one hour drive from Beijing.

Secondly, dinner at restaurant in red 5-star hotel was not successful. I tried hard but it was over "rural" in spite of high price level. When the bill came there was two extra dishes which I never saw. Somewhat incompetent try. Restaurant bill was corrected and I didn't pay for extra no-show dishes. I wonder how they managed to handle that G20 meeting in Xiang He.

Next morning I left DiYiCheng without breakfast, hurry back to Beijing for breakfast.


Above-19: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
Long roads around golf garden.


Above-20: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
Hotel apartments around golf garden. Two 2-floor apartments in this building, ok to stay a few days here.


Above-21: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
Hotel apartments are not small. Don't jump! Beds are hard as stone. Adjust yourself.


Above-22: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
Golf garden.


Above-23: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
Long roads around golf garden.


Above-24: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
Driving around by a golf cart.


Above-25: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
Quality problem fixed in DiYiCheng way in my golf cart.


Above-26: DiYiCheng Culture Park views.


Above-27: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
Red hotel.


Above-28: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
Red hotel looks impressive. Suites have two rooms, sauna and a wide balcony with good view over the culture park.


Above-29: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
Meeting hall.


Above-30: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
Services.


Above-31: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
Dragon fountain is still my favorite.


Above-32: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
Dragon fountain is my favorite.


Above-33: DiYiCheng Culture Park.
Dragon fountain.


Above-34: DiYiCheng Culture Park map, click to enlarge.


Above-35: Goodbye DiYiCheng Culture Park.
Highway back to Beijing, one hour drive.


Above-36: Not alone on the road towards Beijing.


Grand Epoch City - DiYiCheng at Xiang He
+ Not a small culture park, good target for photo safari
+ One hour drive from Beijing, not too crowded, shows
+ Palaces, fountains, statues
- Services, restaurants, better make it a picnic
**** GOOD FOR FULL DAY PHOTO SAFARI AND PICNIC ****


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© BeijingMan aka Kippo 2008, 2009