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West Meets East

In Shanghai, the west culture meets the east, and the east is mixed with the west. This is certainly conflicts, compromise, and melting with each other. I try to observe and analyze the interesting conflicts in this series of article: West Meets East.

Articles in West Meets East

Are American Economically Family-Independent Feb 26, 2008
Maria and I discussed for a long time during and after the Culture Matters talk show, about the relationship in families in America and China. Her point of view is very interesting, and I tend to agree, but before I...
Labor Day (May Holiday) Canceled Jan 24, 2008
I know this is not news. That was announced last December. The interesting thing is the other day, I talked with my good friend from California in Xintiandi. He talked the T.I.C (This Is China) moment. He asked his friend...
"I Will Follow All the Rules!" Dec 23, 2007
Chatted with George the other day. George is my friend from New York who asked the wonderful question: Why everyone in China says "It is not impossible but difficult". When we talked about his recent relocation to Shanghai, we talked...
Why Classified is NOT Popular in China, Yet Nov 15, 2007
Today, when I talked with EnjoyChina's founder Daniel, I mentioned about my observation about why classified is not popular in China yet. It may also provide some hints to people who don't know too much about China's recent history. Current...
The Topic of This Year's YLF Nov 12, 2007
The topic of this year's Young Leader Forum is: Challenge. After I got the exciting invitation for Young Leaders Forum of National Committee on United States-China Relationship. Haisong was a member; Bo Shao is a member; so was Robin Li....
Got Invitation of Young Leaders Forum Aug 30, 2007
On Aug 24, 2007, I got invitation for the Yong Leaders Forum of National Committee of US-China Relations. I will become 2007 Fellow of the Forum and participant in the YLF activities in 2007 in China and 2008 in U.S....
The Dinner - Part IV - Elected Officials Jun 23, 2007
Let me break down the article into several parts to avoid being too long in one entry. Elected Officials If you ask me about a new word or new concept I learnt from the dinner, it will be a very...
The Dinner - Part III - Government or Party? Jun 23, 2007
This is the part III of my dinner last night with mayors, city councils, and executives from city league and NCUCR... During our talk, we realized when people tried to understand the politics in China, the major problem or source...
The Dinner - Part II - NCUSR Delegation Jun 23, 2007
Well. I wake up in the morning (at 8:30 AM). I believe the delegate has already assembled at the lobby of hotel and heading to Suzhou. And me? The baby was like a alarm clock - he cried exactly at...
Wonderful Night with Mayors from U.S. Jun 22, 2007
Please note that I archived this entry under "West Meets East" category. I am just back from a wonderful night with some great persons from the delegation of National League of Cities/League of California Cities, and National Committee on United...
Who is Chinabounder Aug 31, 2006
From today, a new name appeared in my search engine referrer log: ChinaBounder. This seems to be a hot term on the Internet today. I didn't take close look at what the blog is about. Very briefly, I know this...
Dong Fang Ji Bai from KFC Aug 16, 2006
KFC is more successful in China than McDonald's. In my oppinion, it is because KFC is doing a much better job in localization. KFC's Local Brand: Dong Fang Ji Bai 东方既白 KFC's parent company - Yum Group's Asia headquarter is...
The World of Different Rules Jul 11, 2006
The Story of the Mason Three years ago, I re-modeled my apartment. I hired a mason, who helped me to install floor tiles and wall tiles in the kitchen. The guy was a 40-year-old skillful mason. We couldn't get along...
NCUCR Visit Jun 29, 2006
Thanks to my good friend Haisong. He was so kind to invite me to the lunch with the distinguished guest from the Public Intellectuals Program of the The National Committee on United States-China Relations. It is wonderful time for me:...
"The Right to Refuse Service to Anyone" Jun 16, 2006
Anyone could help me to understand this? I visited a restaurant in San Jose. At the counter, they have a poster at dominate location that says: "We Reserve the Right to Refuse Service to Anyone". Here is the picture: My...
We Need a Bridge, Seriously Jun 13, 2006
I ended my 6-day (150 hours) trip in United States of America. During the trip, I had the opportunity to drive to many places in the Silicon Valley on Saturday, and had the honor to be invited to two typical...
It is not Impossible, But Difficult May 8, 2006
I enjoyed chatting with George from New York the other day in my garden. We discussed about doing business in China. George said, when he consulted his friends about anything in China, he often got the answer: "It is not...
Business of Zhending Chicken - Part II Mar 7, 2006
I talked about Zhending Chicken and their strange policies days before. After that, there is another similiar discussion on airlines. These discussion reveals the difference in culture and business conduct in China and U.S (representative of western or international world)....
Culture Differences - Part II Feb 26, 2006
I went to a church in Pudong with in-laws this Sunday morning. I am not a Christian, but I found the religion service beneficial for me. It helped me to understand the life better, and also on cultural difference. The...
Cultural Differences Between China and America Feb 26, 2006
The comment of mcgjcn mentioned a name R. R. Gesteland. I research the name in Google and found some interesting resources on cultural differences (like this, and this). In all the works, Norihiko Shimizu's paper “Today’s Taboos may be gone...
Diversity, Consistency, and Efficiency - Part II Feb 24, 2006
After the entry Diversity, Consistency, and Efficiency, many readers posted so great comments that I cannot help quoting it. (Quoting in full text is rare on this blog.) Roger Chan commented: Good points in your article above. Some other important...
Diversity, Consistency, and Efficiency Feb 22, 2006
I have some point-of-views for diversity, consistency, efficiency, and the difference between China and U.S. It is just some random thought, without any systematic thinking... When a company just went IPO (like Google), internationalization is the only way to keep...
Business of Zhending Chicken Feb 16, 2006
This noon, we went to our favorite restaurant Zhengding Chicken (振鼎鸡) for lunch. It is famous for its chicken. It is a successful business, just like KFC for fried chicken. Zhending Chicken meets the need of local market precisely, because...
20 Years of Professional Managers in China Feb 15, 2006
The latest issue of Shanghai Managers featured "20 Years of Professional Managers" in Shanghai. The topic is good since the phenomenon of “20 year professional managers” is unique in China, and it involves many people just around us. The people...
Two Side of the World - Where Should I Stay? Oct 10, 2005
How interesting that on one hand, so many people are looking for services and goods and on the other hand, many services and merchants are spending too much but still cannot find customers. I often receive emails to help on...
Different Views on Typhoon Aug 12, 2005
Just get back from a business trip. Sorry that I was not able to catch up the blog and didn't find a chance to post an OOB - it is among the longest break in blogging recently. When I am...
Do You Have a Calendar? May 27, 2005
Last time when I chatted with my friends from U.S (I think it was on the top of the Jin Mao tower), he introduced a new tool that helps people to use calendar more effectively. He asked me whether it...
T.I.C Moments Apr 11, 2005
My foreign friends told me that when something goes wrong (sometimes because of culture shock and sometimes not), they will say: T.I.C. Later, I found out T.I.C means: This is China! They even have the expression of the "T.I.C moment"...
Top Two Differences in China Jan 12, 2005
Tip and Tax are among the top differences between China and most western countries. Before someone steps out of the door of his/she own country, he/she cannot really understand how different people do the same thing. I try to list...
Service Shock in Shanghai Feb 2, 2004
Services foreigners received in Shanghai contributed a lot in their culture shock in Shanghai. I heard too many stories about it. Can I call it "service shock"? Yesterday, I went to the Bank of China Tianlin Branch. When I queued...