Book Review: Encountering the Chinese

Title: Encountering the Chinese: A Guide for Americans
Author: Wenzhong, Hu and Cornelius Grove
ISBN: 1-877864-58-7


Overview
This book is broken down into two parts: 1) Advice for Americans Interacting with the Chinese and 2) Advice for Americans Living and Working in the PRC. Part one covers basics such as how to address others, greetings, and other topics of cultural differences. Part two covers what to do in certain situations while in China. I do not think that this section is limited to those only working and living in China. Travelers can benefit from reading part two as well. Each section will present an American’s perspective and Chinese perspective of the topic with an explanation why the Chinese have this view.

Relevance
Judging from the book’s dated cover, I was worried that the material be outdated as well. However, culture is slow to change and the content is very relevant. As a Chinese-American, I was able to relate to both perspectives (most of the time). This book even shed some light on my mother’s actions and personal observations while I was in China. People who interact with Chinese people outside of China will also learn a lot and find this book interesting.

Good Parts
Overall, the best part of this book is that I learned about the Chinese perspective and what is considered “normal.” Knowing about these particular behaviors beforehand can offset the feeling that the Chinese person is being rude. For example, the Chinese may end a phone conversation very abruptly with, “Goodbye” followed immediately by hanging up. The other party does not have a chance to say, “Goodbye” in return. An American may be taken aback and find this rude. My mother has done this to me, which I found puzzling but now I realize that this behavior is “normal.”

The book also has personal stories to illustrate certain points. These stories sometimes make the Chinese perspective clearer. Chinese teachers are expected to not just teach the student but also to help “raise” the student. A foreign student gave an account that his teacher offered advice on family and friends, exercise, attitude towards life, etc. This student finally became overwhelmed with the unsolicited advice and told the teacher that Americans his age made their own decisions. The Chinese teacher was appalled and asked, “Don’t’ your parents and teachers care about you?” These humorous illustrations clarify the Chinese culture even more for the reader.

Readers of this book can acclimate themselves a little bit to the Chinese culture beforehand so they do not experience total culture shock and frustration. One source of frustration for foreigners is that the Chinese do not have the same “time is money” mantra that Americans adhere to. Another is that presenters do not receive undivided attention during presentations.

Bad Parts
Since the book compares the Chinese and American perspectives, this book may not be that helpful for non-Americans. Sometimes there is a lot of useful information in the footnote of the chapter that is not in the body of the chapter. This is annoying because I would need to scan the footnotes for additional information or advice. One such advice was a caution to not praise disliked dishes too much because the dish may appear again at subsequent dinners. Overall, there is not much that is bad about this book.

Recomendation
Encountering the Chinese is a good book for those who will be spending a lot of time in China. It may not be very useful for those who will not be interacting much with the locals or visitors who are on a package tour. Each chapter is short and readers can read a particular chapter with out feeling that he is missing something from preceding chapters.