Living Abroad

It is the bane of the business traveler in an unfamiliar culture: making a comment or gesture that is meant to be friendly but instead offends or embarrasses the hosts. Happily, such cross-cultural faux pas are no longer deal killers. Globalization has narrowed the cultural divide, and these days the Chinese are experienced enough in dealing with foreigners to shrug off such indiscretions. Even stabbing chopsticks into a bowl of rice and leaving them there (an act of hostility among Chinese because it signifies death) would be laughed off (albeit nervously) by locals. What truly matters is a friendly attitude and a patient manner. Below is a list of 9 things to avoid.

By now you’re probably well aware of the pending holiday. A glorious 7 day period free from obligation, alarm clocks and forced hangover management. In case you’re wondering just why this glorious opportunity has fallen into your lap, continue reading to learn more about this particular Golden Week.

Now that you have successfully created both your Taobao and Alipay accounts, it’s time to reap the rewards.

The first thing you will want to do is search for the item(s) you are after. While you can do this in Chinese and English, I have personally found that learning the correct characters and doing it in Chinese yields far greater results. So, here we go – the perfect opportunity to work on your Chinese. In the beginning if you’re in a pinch, Google Translate will do the trick. Because one can never have too many, I’ve gone ahead and decided to search for a dress.  This will bring up pages of results. Scour the options and select the one you think you like – don’t fret, it will open in a tab of its own.