China Ready

Further reading

Communicating with Chinese guests

Here are some practices of etiquette and protocol that every
colleague should know to help them be polite and respectful
to guests throughout their stay.
Greetings
In Chinese culture, the distance you go to meet your guest communicates their
importance.
Meeting your Chinese guests at their vehicle, or as soon as they enter your hotel,
will communicate how much you value them.
If a hotel representative were able to meet the Guest at the airport, this would
go the extra mile in making the Guest feel greatly respected.
It is customary to be formally introduced when meeting someone new.
When you are being introduced to a new guest, you should stand throughout
the introduction.
Avoid prolonged eye contact, maintain good posture, and remember to smile.
A commonly practiced and respectful Chinese greeting is a slight bow from
the shoulders.
To shake hands hold their hand lightly, and cup it with your other hand.
You will be expected to shake every guests hand in a group.
Receive a guests business card with both hands, read the card, and place it on
the desk in front of you, or keep it in your hands where it is visible to your guest.
Present your business card with both hands, positioning the card so that they
are able to read it. Give a slight bow and say thank you.

Forms of Address
It is polite to use professional titles such as Professor, Director, Chairman
and Manager, followed by their last name.
If you do not know the professional title of the guest, then it is acceptable to address
them using either Mr or Mrs.
The last name can often appear before the first name. So Mr. Fu Min Rong would
be addressed as Mr. Fu and not Mr. Rong. However, as this is not always the case
its best to check with the guest and confirm the name order.
China should always be referred to as Peoples Republic of China and Taiwan
as the Province of Taiwan.
Do not mention Tibet at all.

Formality
It is considered very impolite to touch a Chinese guest.
Clicking fingers or whistling is also considered very rude.
To attract the attention of a Chinese guest, face the palm of your hand downward
and move your fingers in a scratching motion. Never use your index finger to beckon
a guest.
Point or indicate something with an open hand - never point with your index finger.
Your Chinese guests may ask personal questions regarding your age, marital status,
children, family and income. This is a common way to connect with one another and
find common ground in Chinese culture. If you prefer not to answer the question,
gently change the subject rather than state your refusal to answer to be polite
to your guest.

Silence
Silence is also important as it shows your guest that you are listening to, and thinking
about what they have said and about what you will say in return.
Do not interrupt your guests when they are speaking and pause for a moment before
you speak.

Compliments
In Chinese culture, accepting and giving direct praise is considered poor etiquette
since it is highly valued to be humble and show humility.
If praise is given, do not accept it with an open thank you. Instead, it is considered
more polite to respond by saying not at all or it was nothing.
A useful Mandarin term is nli meaning it really was nothing.

Saying No
Saying no or directly refusing requests will make Chinese guests feel rejected
or lose face.
Instead, it is more polite to say something like That would be inconvenient,
or I will consider that.
Chinese Guests may not directly tell you no if you make a request they cannot
or would prefer not to meet.
They may seem to acknowledge it, but then do not change their behaviour
or actions accordingly.
This indicates that they acknowledged your request so you did not lose face, but
did not change their behaviour because they did not really agree with your request.

How can you help your team feel comfortable when interacting
with Chinese guests?
With so many traditions and cultural considerations, your colleagues may be anxious
about behaving appropriately with Chinese guests. You can help your team by running
the relevant activities in your team meetings, these can be downloaded from the China
Ready Managers elearning.

Four Concepts of Chinese Culture

Chinese culture is based strongly in traditions of respect, honor
and reputation. Customs and manners when interacting with others
reflect these traditions. It is important that your team understand
them, and how to reflect them in their behaviour, when they are
providing service to Chinese travellers.
Four key concepts for how to behave and interact with others
are as follows:
Guanxi This concept means relationships and can best be
described as the importance of interdependent connections.
Chinese people build their social network from groups they associate with closely,
such as family members, business colleagues and schoolmates.
Guanxi describes the rules of behaviour and social obligation that help to build and
maintain relationships in that social network. Part of that social obligation includes
reciprocal favours.
This means that once a relationship has been established, a person within a social
network can show consideration to another person in their network by giving them
a favour or a gift.
Once a favour or gift is given, the person who received it will return the favour
in order to build and deepen their relationship and maintain their gunx.
These exchanges tend to be perpetual and lead to deep relationships between
friends and associates.

Minzi This concept means face and is built on to the principles

of honour, pride, reputation and respect.
It particularly relates to your reputation, which will help (or hinder) you in guanxi
(building relationships with others).
Chinese people have a strong social sense of doing what is right and in acting
appropriately.
If someone does not act in a socially appropriate way, they will lose face and this
may affect their reputation in their own eyes and in the eyes of others.
This might mean, for example, that they might be hesitant to ask questions, or ask
how something works or raise a problem in case they may have misunderstood
or mistaken something themselves.

Your team can help our Chinese guests by anticipating their needs, being ready to
explain how to find or access services in your hotel, by showing a sincere desire to help
and to correct or put right any misunderstandings they may have made and by not
contradicting a guest or saying (or implying) that the mistake or misunderstanding is
theirs which would make a guest uncomfortable.

K q This concept means etiquette and is important in saving or

gaining face and maintaining relationships.
Etiquette in this context relates to behaviour and means being humble and courteous
in all social interactions.

L This concept means surface harmony. Showing the proper

etiquette K q is a key way of preserving harmony and
saving face.
Loss of harmony leads to loss of face for everyone involved and is therefore avoided.
Chinese guests may therefore hide their true emotions about a situation in order to
maintain a calm, surface harmony.
This means they may not raise a complaint directly with you, and either refer to the
issue in an indirect way or wait until they have left the hotel and complain via an
intermediary such as their tour operator or an online review site.
Your team can show their sensitivity to maintaining surface harmony by tuning into
a guests body language to gain an insight into their feelings and concerns, and by
responding in a discreet way.
They might think about approaching the guest when they are on their own, or in a
private area of the hotel, or putting a note in their room to respond to a query or issue
they may have or as a way to find out about their satisfaction with their stay.

How you can help your team to understand these four concepts?
You can run relevant activities in your team meetings, these can be downloaded from
the China Ready Managers elearning. These will help your colleagues develop and
retain their understanding of these four concepts of Chinese culture.

What else does your team need to know about these four
concepts in their role?

Superstitions and Taboos

In their China Ready cross-cultural training, colleagues in your team
will have learned more about aspects of superstition and taboos.
Here are some tips for you to reinforce the learning in your team
using different stages of the guest journey.
Arrival and Check In
Try to assign the guest a room on the highest possible floor of the hotel the
higher the floor, the more importance and respect you are showing to the guest.
Do not assign a Chinese guest a room with the number 4 in it this is considered
an unlucky number as the word four in Mandarin (s) sounds like the word for
death (s).
Try to assign the guest a room on a high floor which includes the number 8 this is
considered a lucky number as the word eight in Mandarin (b) sounds like the
word for prosper (f).

Room
The colour red symbolizes good fortune, happiness and a long life and the
colour gold symbolizes wealth and prosperity. Think about how you can reflect
these colours in the rooms assigned to Chinese guests e.g. through the dcor or
accessories, perhaps a red and gold flower display, a welcome note (translated into
Mandarin) in a red or gold envelope, red or gold napery for in-room dining trays etc.
By contrast, white is considered an unlucky colour as it is associated with death and
mourning. Ensure your flower displays in the guest room or hallways near the rooms
are not white.
Think about what amenities you could include in your guests room to make them
feel more comfortable e.g. some slippers, Chinese tea, a kettle, some branded
toiletries or amenities.
If youre offering a welcome fruit basket ensure that it does not include pears as the
word for pear in Mandarin is similar to the word for splitting up this is particularly
important for honeymooning couples!
Think about what your Welcome Pack will include and where you will place it in the
room so your Chinese guests can read about (and feel reassured by) the services
available to them e.g. Chinese television channels, Chinese cuisine options on your
in-room and restaurant dining menus etc.

Food & Beverage

Make sure your colleagues are familiar with the Chinese cuisine items that your hotel
has introduced as part of its China Ready accreditation. These might include:
Dim sum which means touch the heart and can include dumplings,
(gao) filled with vegetables, shrimp, tofu or meat or baked or steamed buns
(bao) etc.
Spring rolls Spring rolls are made in the shape of gold bars, which
symbolise wealth.
Noodle Dishes wheat noodles or rice noodles in a flavoured broth.
Tea different varieties such as green, oolong or jasmine. These are especially
appreciated in-room as an added welcoming touch.
Familiarise yourself with the different styles of Chinese cuisine which you were
introduced to in your China Ready cross-cultural training so you impress your
guests with your knowledge and recommendations of Chinese cuisine.
The colour red symbolizes good fortune, happiness and a long life and the colour
gold symbolizes wealth and prosperity. Think about how you can reflect these
colours in the restaurant, perhaps through napery or table decorations.
By contrast, white is considered an unlucky colour as it is associated with death and
mourning. Ensure the dcor and flower displays in the restaurant are not white.

How can you help your team familiarise themselves with the
superstitions and traditions of Chinese culture?
The common taboos and superstitions are important to remember to ensure your
Chinese Guests are thoughtfully served and not accidentally offended. You can help
your team to remember these by running the relevant activities in your team meetings,
these can be downloaded from the China Ready Managers elearning.