China (Mainland)
The Chinese people themselves are reserved but hospitable and respect good manners and very proud of their history. The philosophy of Confucious that promotes a social hierarchal order and loyalty is quite strong in the rural regions. The government also promotes respect and obedience to authority and the Chinese have generally been pragmatic about accepted the lack of freedoms in their society as a trade-off for the relative social stability.

Networking within the society is very strong and it has a term called Guanxi. Understanding this aspect of Chinese culture is extremely important if you plan to work with or deal with the Chinese. It means you provide what help you can to the friends and relatives within the network when they need help. It is through Guanxi that many problems can be simplified or overcome and you will find every Chinese has his or her own network. Guanxi is knowing the right people to achieve a given task. So it is extremely important for foreigners to be aware of Guanxi and establish their own Guanxi. If asked to do something you should not say "I can't" or "I won't". Instead you say "it may be difficult". It is the fact that you have considered it and would look into it that is very important rather than an outright "No". Guanxi is in simple terms "doing favours for others and they will do favours for you" and it cannot be emphasised how important it is in the Chinese culture.

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