kilometres away. The business trip is supposed to last for two days. I promise Hong that I would be right back, after the tour.
As usual, when going on such trips, my colleague, a Chinese buyer and I, are picked up from the airport in a limousine, to be taken to the supplier’s factory outside the city. Being a Hi-Tech field, we had to do everything thing in its precise measurement and standard.
I am, however, dismayed to find out that the plate we commissioned, is much thicker than that of the competition. I also complain about the drawing, not being suitable for turning parts.
My colleagues point out that it is due to the standardisation efforts of the company. I however believe that losing material cost-share is much higher than any savings on standardisation. I also note that the rotary part produces long chips, and with the new material, a worker would be removing the waste every too often. Otherwise, they would wrap around the chisels, which would later be dangerous.
My buyer also tells me that their measurements for specifications come from the headquarters that Chinese designers have no permission to anything to change the specifications. I turned a blind eye on this type of “copy and paste” procedure. I wondered why the buyer would have an interest in protecting the supplier other than myself! I realise that he did not want to tarnish his name and the relationship of a company. He have which he had built it years, and that he wants to have a pleasant working life, without any stress.
After the business meeting, we are invited to dinner by the supplier. We sit at a round table in the pre-ordered and preheated adjoining room of a traditional restaurant. I order warm yellow rice with less alcoholic content than red wine or brandy. It keeps the mind flowing and has no hangover side effect. Its warmth is pleasant in a cold season. I call the waiter, give her a camera to take a memorable group photo of all of us at the dinner table. I return to my hotel room after dinner, still with heartburn until the morning after. I later realised that the previous night's dinner had contained a lot of artificial flavours and enhancers, which are always the cause of my heartburn. When I am having breakfast with my colleagues in the morning, I tell them about my heartburn. One of them replys confidently. "Glutamate is a Chinese tradition; it does not cause problems to us, our bodies have had it for centuries, yours is not yet".
The weather is cold. Chinese drivers keep their car engines running to warm up interior space, for the guests and for them not
to freeze. I am opposed to that though because in my view, it only adds to high levels of pollution. No wonder the levels are too high in the country. Everyone thinks about him or herself, but not the environment. They just talk about finding solutions, no one seems to care. It is business as usual.
After breakfast, we go to a sub-supplier where I record data from the plate's manufacturing process and discuss cost-cutting ideas. On the way back, we talk a lot about the cultural differences between the East and the West. None of us seem to understand the other.
"I know of many German companies that are not bothered about negotiating, that is why they make losses in China", remarked my buyer.
"That is true by the way, probably, because they lack the necessary know-how, about the way business, is done in China". I answered.
I returned to my hotel room still with heartburn problems. I later realised that the previous night's dinner had contained a lot of artificial flavours and enhancers.
When taking breakfast with my colleagues in the morning, I told them about my heartburn. "Glutamate is a Chinese tradition; it does not cause problems to us; our bodies are used to it for centuries; yours is not yet". One of them said confidently.
The weather was cold. Chinese drivers keep engines of their cars warming, for the guests and indeed for them not to freeze. I am opposed to this because in my view it only adds to high levels of pollution n the country. No wonder there are high levels of pollution in the country. Everyone seems to be thinking only about themselves, but not the environment. They say a lot about finding solutions; no
one seems to care; it is like business as usual. After breakfast, we went to a sub-supplier where I record down data from the plate's manufacturing process and discuss cost-cutting ideas. That afternoon while going back to the airport, we talked a lot about the cultural differences between the East and the West, about which none of us seemed to understand the other.
"I know of many German companies that are simply not bothered about negotiating, that is why they make losses in China", remarked my buyer.
“That is true by the way; perhaps this is because they lack the necessary know-how, about the way business, is done in China", I replied.
I have personally come across many cases, where I get instructions from our headquarter in Germany, to do things the way they want. What I also know is that Germans always want to bang their heads against the wall. The Chinese, on the other hand, do it differently, they are more pragmatic and flexible. I am now used to the Chinese way of doing business. I am not as stubborn as I used to be before.
On the way back home, I buy my wife a present. I decline an offer by the supplier to go for lunch after all the journey was only one and a half hours away. I do not have anything to eat during the flight. I will have to wait until I reached home; hopefully, a delicious meal is waiting for me there.
Hong’s parents have already arrived at our house in Taicang, to work together to celebrate with us, the end of the fifteen-day Spring Festival with the Lantern Festival. Hong’s mother Wu Meilan has already decorated the house with pretty lamps, to make it easier for the ghosts to get home. They also light candles outside and lanterns along the streets. It is the tradition. I happily hand gifts over to Hong, for tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day. Presents included, an umbrella and a delicacy from Qingda called “Guotie”, the roasted dough bags, with meat or vegetable filling. What Germans have as a pancake at the Berlin Karnevals (carnival of cultures) festival, the Chinese have
“Tangyuan”, a dumpling of sticky rice flour with a sweet filling, for the Lantern Festival. Time is slowly melting away as we are waiting for Li Gengnan to prepare dinner. Hong and I use this opportunity to go for a quick jog. On the way, she reminds me about our earlier times; and how we met. I nod with a smile.
“Back in the days of strong cultural traditions, women from wealthy families were not allowed to leave their houses for some time. The culture imposed tiny shoes on women. It was because those days, men believed that if women wore small shoes, it would make them feel uncomfortable to walk, and so they would stay at home and remain faithful to their loved ones. It was only during the Lantern Festival when wealthy parents would allow their daughters to walk in the streets with their feet tied in little shoes. They believed that it was the only day of the year when these girls would flirt with men. This tradition is said to have been in practice, during the Qing Dynasty in 1919. The Lantern Festival, however, is still used for Bridal Shoes and Marriage Foundation. It is still common for only men and women from the same social class, to be allowed to get married.”
This year’s Valentine Day falls on a Friday. At this day, I am not good at timekeeping and arrives late. Now that we are all hungry, we go out to eat together, to eat “huoguo”, the Chinese firepot.
Before heading for our holiday. The food there is cheap. It costs fifty Renmibi per person, which is about 6.50 euros. We could eat and drink as much as we wanted for three hours. While eating, Hong reminds me about the gifts one would consider presenting in China.
“There are three gifts that you must avoid here in China, and these are umbrellas, grandfather clocks, and pears” she warns. When she mentions about not giving an umbrella as a gift, it makes me nervous. So, I am asking “why?”
After realising that I was a bit confused about all this, Hong gets out a small paper and draws illustrations of each of these forbidden gifts with an explanation of each of them one by one. She explains:
“Let me start with the long case clock when it sounds in Chinese like ‘stops’ and it is easy to confuse it with the ‘end’. As for pear, the word sounds like ‘divorce’ in the Chinese language, and the pronunciation of the word ‘umbrella’ in the Chinese language