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katsmiao's review
5.0
Wickedly funny, and deadly accurate.
Our company was recently bought out by a chinese one, so Chinese have been popping up here and there. I could recognize a bunch of points described in the book, last time I listened to a speech by the new VP. It really helped me understand the differences in culture and business.
A very entertaining read, because of the funny and light writing style. But don't let that fool you, the book is dead on with everything it says.
Our company was recently bought out by a chinese one, so Chinese have been popping up here and there. I could recognize a bunch of points described in the book, last time I listened to a speech by the new VP. It really helped me understand the differences in culture and business.
A very entertaining read, because of the funny and light writing style. But don't let that fool you, the book is dead on with everything it says.
msmouse's review
3.0
Never Try to Drink a Chinese Woman Under the Table is a light-hearted business text that discusses the potential cross-cultural pitfalls one might encounter when trying to do business with a Mainland Chinese company. It is aimed at a primarily white-collar American audience, although other Western nations might get something from it. A lot of it is trying to translate Chinese cultural norms for Westerners. They make the point several times that they are not trying to say one or the other is better, just different. The thing about culture is that is it invisible to the person in it. Something people take for granted as standard may really, really not be standard elsewhere. This book tries to highlight potential clash points for Westerners trying to navigate Chinese culture. They don’t always tell you a solution to the issue (sometimes there may not be one), but they do warn their readers of where they may misstep.
Personally, I’m not sure I’ll ever try to work in a Chinese owned company, but many of the issues they cover could come in handy in other situations. Amongst other things they cover the unwritten rules of (Mainland) Chinese dinner parties, drinking with your colleagues, the rumour mill structure, and the hidden cues in meetings that indicate real intentions. Some of it may be more useful to someone who works in a corporate setting (accountants etc.) than to the average person, but a lot of it can be applied to more broad settings.
I found it to be very readable. It’s written mostly in bullet points, organized thematically. They tell you the important lessons to bear in mind for whatever the subject is, then follow up with a fictional case study of someone in that situation so one can see how they manage it (with mixed success). They then recap. They also include brief looks at other Asian nations, but they reiterate that those places are not their expertise so the sections are short.
There was a lot of good information in here. It wasn’t incredibly funny, but it wasn’t a drag to read like a lot of business texts can be. I’m not Chinese so I can’t speak to its accuracy (although one of the authors did work in China for a long time so there seems to be some experience). Once and a while the humour came off more snarky than funny, but that may have been unintentional.
Overall, it was a solid 3 stars. I think people with an interest in business or travel in China would find this very useful.
I receives a copy through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
Personally, I’m not sure I’ll ever try to work in a Chinese owned company, but many of the issues they cover could come in handy in other situations. Amongst other things they cover the unwritten rules of (Mainland) Chinese dinner parties, drinking with your colleagues, the rumour mill structure, and the hidden cues in meetings that indicate real intentions. Some of it may be more useful to someone who works in a corporate setting (accountants etc.) than to the average person, but a lot of it can be applied to more broad settings.
I found it to be very readable. It’s written mostly in bullet points, organized thematically. They tell you the important lessons to bear in mind for whatever the subject is, then follow up with a fictional case study of someone in that situation so one can see how they manage it (with mixed success). They then recap. They also include brief looks at other Asian nations, but they reiterate that those places are not their expertise so the sections are short.
There was a lot of good information in here. It wasn’t incredibly funny, but it wasn’t a drag to read like a lot of business texts can be. I’m not Chinese so I can’t speak to its accuracy (although one of the authors did work in China for a long time so there seems to be some experience). Once and a while the humour came off more snarky than funny, but that may have been unintentional.
Overall, it was a solid 3 stars. I think people with an interest in business or travel in China would find this very useful.
I receives a copy through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
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