Chapter 27 — Exercises

These exercises are a gym, not a test. China is the chapter most Western professionals will actually use, so most of what follows asks you to convert understanding into things you'd genuinely do — at a banquet, in a negotiation, on WeChat, in a politically tense moment. Work them with a pen and a willingness to imagine yourself in the room.

Selected answers and sample responses appear in Appendix: Answers to Selected Exercises. Exercises marked with ✍️ feed directly into your Cultural Intelligence Portfolio.

Part A — Check Your Understanding

Short answers in your own words. If you can't answer one, reread the matching section before moving on.

  1. Explain why the Shanghai deal in the opening scenario "sat" rather than closed. What was actually happening during all those banquets, in the counterpart's frame?
  2. What is the difference between Western "networking" and guanxi? Why is "networking" a thin translation?
  3. Distinguish mianzi from lianzi. Give an example of a person with high mianzi and low lianzi.
  4. Confucianism is described as "not a religion." What is it instead, and what is its central question?
  5. Four of the Five Relationships are hierarchical — but the chapter insists the hierarchy is reciprocal. What does the superior owe the inferior?
  6. State the praising rule (anchor story #2) in one line, and explain which of the four public/private × group/individual combinations is the trap and why.
  7. Why does the chapter recommend "listening over arguing" on political topics? Name two reasons that are about competence, not cowardice.

Part B — Check Your Assumptions

The core skill: catching your Western operating system in the act. For each statement, decide whether it reflects a Western default or a Chinese cultural reality, then write one sentence on how the Chinese system would frame it differently.

  1. "Once the contract is signed, the deal is fixed and we can stop negotiating."
  2. "The fastest way to build a business relationship is to get straight to the value proposition."
  3. "If I praise my best employee in front of the whole team, I'll motivate everyone."
  4. "When my counterpart says the proposal is 'very interesting' and we should 'discuss again,' we're making progress toward yes."
  5. "Declining the alcohol at dinner is a personal choice that has nothing to do with the business relationship."
  6. "It's a little pushy to ask a new acquaintance which city or region they're from."

The point is not that the Western view is "wrong." It is that each statement feels like neutral good sense and is in fact a specific cultural position that lands differently in China. Noticing the feeling — "but that's just obviously how it works" — is the whole skill.

Part C — Decode This

Each item is a moment you could genuinely face. Write what the Western reader probably assumes it means, then a more plausible Chinese-system reading.

  1. After three excellent meetings, you still don't have a signature, and your counterpart keeps suggesting more meals and introducing you to more people in his company. Your CFO calls it stalling.
  2. At a banquet, your host keeps placing food directly onto your plate, including a dish you'd rather not eat.
  3. You make a clean, logical case for your design in a group meeting; your Chinese counterpart nods, says "we will study it carefully," and changes the subject.
  4. A counterpart you've met twice sends you a small digital hongbao on WeChat during a Chinese holiday, with a cheerful sticker.
  5. When you raise — innocently, you think — a recent news story about Chinese politics over dinner, the table goes briefly quiet and someone smoothly changes the topic.

Part D — What Would You Do?

Real situations, several responses each. There's no single "correct" answer — pick the one closest to your instinct, then write why a culturally intelligent person might choose differently.

1. The ganbei you can't keep up with. It's the third round of toasts, the baijiu is strong, and you're at your honest limit with a senior official toasting you warmly. Do you (a) drain it anyway to show respect and risk the rest of the evening; (b) cover your glass and say "I'm done"; (c) stand, return the warm words with full eye contact, clink your glass below his, take a genuine sip, and warmly explain you're pacing yourself but honoring him sincerely; or (d) discreetly switch to tea and toast with that going forward? For each, say what it signals about the relationship, not just the alcohol.

2. The soft "no" you keep pushing. You've now heard "this may be difficult," "we need to study it," and "perhaps after the holiday." Your boss wants a yes-or-no by Friday. Do you (a) press directly — "I really need a clear answer this week"; (b) stop pushing and instead invest more in the relationship (another meal, a small favor, patience), letting the real answer surface; (c) go over your counterpart's head to someone more senior; or (d) issue an ultimatum? What does each do to face and to guanxi?

3. The public-praise reflex. Your Shanghai team just shipped something excellent, led by one standout engineer. Your instinct is to single her out by name in the all-hands. Do you (a) do it — credit is motivating; (b) praise the whole team publicly and tell the engineer privately how outstanding she personally was; (c) say nothing, to be safe; or (d) ask the team who deserves credit and let them decide? Which best fits the face-and-harmony system, and why is (a) a trap even though your intention is generous?

4. The political corner. Over dinner, a counterpart — perhaps testing you, perhaps just curious — asks directly what you think about a hot-button Chinese political issue (Taiwan, Xinjiang, the Party). The table waits. Do you (a) give your honest, full opinion; (b) loudly agree with whatever you think they want to hear; (c) warmly acknowledge it's a deep, complicated subject, say you're there to learn rather than lecture, and invite their view instead; or (d) get visibly uncomfortable and say nothing at all? What are the costs of (a) and (b) specifically?

Part E — Cultural Translation

For each blunt Western message, write (1) the soft, face-preserving Chinese-style version you might say, and (2) the underlying read you should expect if a Chinese counterpart said the equivalent to you. Notice how much information is carried indirectly.

  1. You want to say: "No, we won't agree to those terms."
  2. You want to say: "Your team's last delivery had real quality problems."
  3. You want to say: "We can't make a decision until we've actually built a relationship of trust."

Then, in reverse — translate these soft Chinese-style phrases into the blunt meaning a Westerner should hear:

  1. "It may be a little inconvenient."
  2. "We will give this our careful consideration."
  3. "Perhaps the timing is not yet right."

Try This / Script. Before your next interaction with a Chinese counterpart, draft and rehearse out loud one banquet toast of your own — three or four warm sentences you could stand and deliver: a word of thanks to the host, a note of respect for their company or city, a hope for the relationship, and a raised glass. Having one ready means you can give face generously and confidently when the moment comes, instead of freezing. Sincerity in the toast outranks fluency in the language.

Part F — Reflection & Extension

  1. The patience test. Of all the adjustments this chapter asks for — slowing down, building guanxi before you need it, hearing the soft no, not arguing politics — which is hardest for you personally, given your own temperament and your industry's pressures? Write a page on why, and on what concrete habit could help you hold the line when your home office is pushing for speed.
  2. A reverse mirror. The chapter notes that Chinese practice may "re-open" a signed contract because the relationship is the real bond. Find a Western business practice that a Chinese counterpart might reasonably find cold or untrustworthy — for example, relying on the letter of a contract with someone you have no relationship with, or moving on the instant a deal closes. Describe it neutrally, as an anthropologist would, with its own internal logic.
  3. Tradition and modernity, in one person. Reread the section on the great transformation. Write a short character sketch of a plausible 30-year-old Shanghai professional who is fluently both global-modern and deeply traditional — not torn, but code-switching. What might you misread about them if you only saw one side?

✍️ Portfolio Builder. In your China portfolio page, build a section titled "My guanxi map." Pick one real Chinese relationship you have or expect to have (a colleague, client, supplier, in-law, or a contact you'd like to make). Write down: who they are; what you currently know about their region, role, and the network behind them; what you have given the relationship so far (time, meals, favors, face) and what you've received; and one specific, low-pressure thing you could do in the next month to deepen it before you need anything from it. Update this page after each real interaction. Building guanxi is a practice, not an event — this page is how you practice it deliberately.