By Ivy QIAN Sun
For a foreigner who wants to build relationships in China, the most important factor is to being open to the new environment.
I have some foreign friends who have lived in China for several years. Some of them still couldn’t speak Chinese. They may not get used to Chinese soup. They all hate the bad habits – like spitting – of some Chinese. (Me, too). However, all of these didn’t prevent them from enjoying their lives in China. They made a lot of Chinese friends who love to have fun with them in their spare time and provide support for them at any time.
There is also other group of people in the city, whose socialization circle is limited to other foreign people in China only. They always go to the pubs or restaurants which are also run by foreign people because they can have the typical home country drinking or meals there. They never contact with local people except working. They are trying their best to make themselves living as the same in the home country. As a result they are “foreign people” in China forever because they refuse to integrate into the local life.
Like my country fellows, I admire those foreign people who live in China because it needs great courage to face such a huge challenge. I can understand how difficult it is to live and work in an unfamiliar country: Language barrier, cultural difference, food unaccustomedness, and loneliness. So I’d like to provide support to them no matter for business or personal life. I am willing to help them know more about China, Chinese culture and local life. As a result they can easier to get used of the new environment. Once they can integrate into the local life, they are indeed “at home” and they can find much more fun in China. But to those who always huddle up in their original world, they are polite colleagues, partners, clients or anything else instead of friends. They are giving a signal of “Leave me alone. I feel more comfortable to keeping on my original way of life.”
About the author
Ivy QIAN Sun is a fulltime student in the international MBA program at Lingnan (University) College, Sun Yat-sen University, in Guangzhou, China.