These are funny to me--all things that I was told when I first arrived here, and tried diligently to observe. I have now learned:

1. You CAN criticize others in public--you just have to do it in a very "Chinese" way, smiling constantly, laughing a bit, expressing the criticism in such a way as to make the offending party feel that he can do (or not do) what you're asking, while still saving face. I am constantly criticizing colleagues, my dear wuye people, random folks on the street... It all has to do with how you criticize--and our direct Western manner doesn't cut it here.

2. You CAN say “no” directly--as long as you smile a LOT and are very, very nice. Sometimes you have to give a reason for your "no" (something very general), but most of the time you can just say "it's not convenient right now--how about next time?" (现在不太方便，我们下次吧) or "So sorry, but I have something to do" (真不好意思，我有事).

3. Occasionally it's strategic to use the noon break to your advantage--such as when you have to go register your residence at the local police station. I always time my arrival so I'm there about 10-15 minutes before their noon break. They're always extremely motivated to get me registered without asking any unnecessary nosey questions.

4. Dressing up here is very different from dressing up in Western countries. I've had I-don't-know-how-many Chinese bosses and colleagues over the past 13 years. Professional office attire ranges from dress pants/shirts to jeans/T-shirt to exercise attire. In formal meetings, suits may or may not be worn. As long as your apparel is clean, neat and generally doesn't warrant undue attention (i.e. skip the miniskirts, etc. if you want to be taken seriously), you're good.

5. Yes, don’t forget your name card when going to social events--that is, if you WANT to network. Occasionally, it's wise to strategically forget one's name card if one doesn't really want every Tom and Wang to be calling, texting, emailing, spamming for the next few days, weeks, months, years. It kind of depends on the social gathering, on whether they're the kind of people you would really want to be giving your contact info to.

6. You CAN avoid answering the private questions--Chinese do it all the time! I smile a lot, laugh occasionally, give vague answers, and quickly take charge of the question asking, i.e. Q: How much do you make? A: Oh, enough to live on. Everything's getting so damned expensive in Beijing now, though. A friend of mine just bought an apartment outside the 5th Ring--cost her xxx per square meter. Can you believe that? Do you own an apartment? When did you buy it? How much did it cost you? etc. etc. etc. It's all about grabbing that conversational ball and running with it.

7. It's ok to eat all your food in a restaurant--if you're with friends! When with friends, no one is all that concerned about appearances like that. It's only when at business meals or other formal banquets that you avoid chowing down, and leave a bit of food on your plate.

8. You CAN accept an invitation right away--if you're good friends! Again, it depends on how close you are! And it can also be tricky refusing a superior who's conferring a favor upon you by issuing the invitation. Occasionally they're expecting you to accept right away, because they know you're a Westerner, and don't do the "refuse three times" thing--and will be uncertain how to proceed when you refuse at first. It's a funny business, really; I often try to get around the confusion by laughing and then describing the cultural difference directly. It usually helps the relationship to do that, since it gets some of the cultural differences right out in the open so you can just laugh at them and move on.

9. Yes, don’t forget the seating chart--but only if you're in formal situations, and you're the one hosting the meal. With friends, it's kind of weird to be that concerned about positions, unless you're celebrating a special occasion for a friend and then want to make a big deal about it.

10. Yes, don't try to ask people on the street for directions. Look up stuff online in advance (with Google and Baidu maps, how can you go wrong?) When you're out on the streets hunting for your destination, stick to specifics like "Is Beixinqiao intersection near here? Do I keep going in this direction or turn around?" You can hedge your bets by asking three or four people and taking the majority opinion--of course waiting to ask for a second or third opinion until the first person you stopped is out of sight.

From the Subway Saturday site:
"Oscar and Michael Sheridan are proud to announce that the challenge has been run and won. Every line and every station on the Beijing Subway. All in a newly minted world record time of 14 hours and 24 minutes.

From International Exhibition Centre at 05:37 this morning and finally back to our beautiful home station for a pass through the turnstiles at 20:01.

Couldn’t have done it without our supporters. Or without the excellent value that the Beijing Subway provides.

What’s next? Stay tuned to subwaysaturday.com Who knows what we’ll think of next…suggestions are welcome. Challenges are fun!"

=D> Yes, so true... Eventough I sometimes do one on purpouse, hehehe. And two is always tricky...

you forgor the most important one, be yourself wherever you are....

these rules do mirror chinese society quite well, but I am sure every one who is able to use common sense quite enough, will not be disregarded even tough he does not follow all of them that strictly

too many rules limit personal expression, and they make people look quite similar to each other, which is quite a pity in my opinion

So how'd it go?

TX_Chick wrote:

that's a screenshot from an app that displays the US Embassy's readings and China's official reading so you can see the disparity in how they measure pollution. The top one is obviously the more reliable one, as it uses WHO pollution standards to measure.

the us embassy is a single point reading -- at the embassy near Lufthansa / northern part of the 3rd Ring Road.

The official China reading is a average of many readings across the city.

If you live downtown and fairly near a major roadway (as I'd guess about 75% of expats do), the embassy reading is probably more of a reflection of the air you are actually breathing.

If you happen to spread your time evenly between downtown, far northwestern Haidian, and the tips of mountaintops on the far outskirts of the city where some of the air monitors are placed, then the China average is probably more accurate.

The reality of what you're breathing is probably somewhere in between.

"We are, of course, seeking sponsorships"
For your 2 kuai subway ticket??