With the Olympics approaching and people here working themselves into a frenzy over how to put their best face forward to foreign visitors, we have seen an onslaught of press coverage on English language studies, cultural training, and so on. It’s starting to get a little boring, actually, so after this post, I will avoid the topic for a while.

Spencer uses a China Daily article to bring up some of his own experiences. I’m not sure if his article has a central theme or not, but to me, it more or less agrees with the bottom line of one of my recent posts: don’t be an asshole. This is my advice for downplaying 99% of cultural misunderstandings.

For example, Spencer talks about food preferences. In my humble opinion, the sane response when confronted with a new and scary looking dish is to either 1) try it if you are adventurous; or 2) politely decline if you think it will make you ill. Not trying a dish in China will not result in someone throwing you out of their home, although the host might be disappointed. On the other hand, forcing something down your throat and then seeing it come back on you a minute later is not something you want to do in polite company.

On the issue of baijiu drinking, this used to be absolutely necessary if you wanted to close that JV deal, particularly if it was in a rural area. Not so much anymore, but still a common occurrence. But are horrible things going to happen to you if you politely decline to imbibe, or if you drink beer instead? The government officials might laugh at you a little, but that’s probably the worst thing that will happen (I speak from experience). Others may disagree, but I’ve always felt that if your entire business deal hinges on one all-night drinking session, there’s probably something wrong with the fundamentals.

Being polite, smiling, and trying to meet people halfway really is all you need if you’re a foreigner. From the Chinese side, the government is rightly concerned that certain local practices may offend foreigners, hence the ineffectual campaigns against spitting, etc. However, you can’t win ‘em all. I figure if they can’t get the dog crap off the streets in Paris, we can cut Beijing some slack over the spitting. As long as no one actually spits on a tourist during the Olympics, visitors to the city will probably be fairly accommodating.