Whilst browsing a pile of stray Chinese books at work the other day I came across this gem of a title: “Etiquette: Your Etiquette is Worthy of Million Dollars” (their Chinglish, not mine!). With such an enticing front cover I couldn’t help but peek inside (sorry about the poor scans) –
How to present and accept a business card: notice the arrows indicate where you should be looking! In general people in Asia take the giving and receiving of business cards very seriously. The actual book contained 9 steps in total. How these people ever get any actual work done I don’t know. Fake smiles optional.
How not to hug a member of the opposite sex: priceless expressions (and severely ugly dress). As an Englishman, my advice would be to avoid all hugging full stop.
The proper way to hug (your tango partner?): in the most exaggerated way possible. Do people really need a book to learn this?
More after the break…
Flirting with the boss and applying makeup: how not to do it at work (while listening to your iPod). Office ladies (OL’s) should be sure to dress appropriately and not play with their hair.
Erm… I’m not even going to try and guess what’s going on here.
Regulation business suit: required to be worn by all Chinese men 24/7. The tie represents your love of the motherland. Notice the love heart lapel pin, presumably given to him by his rather presumptuous secretary.
The book had about 300 pages full of such examples which covered seemingly every situation you could ever imagine encountering. Most of it was common sense but I suppose for those not used to business culture it might be useful. It kept me smiling all day 😀
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