Brilio.net/en - Cultural differences can be quite and charming and we all encounter them on our travels. Something that is normal in your country may be looked upon strangely by others six time zones away from yours. But China seems to take the cake on those manners, tying only with India. It seems as if many cultural customs just dont seem to translate well. Even Chinese President Xi Jinping suggested Chinese citizens be a bit more civilised when travelling abroad.
Take for example the Chinese native who was sitting next to me on my flight from Dubai to Munich just yesterday. The middle-aged gentleman not once, but twice, burped so loudly that people five rows ahead of us were turning around. He didnt so much as flinch or show a sign of remorse or regret, and definitely didnt make an effort to apologize for his untimely body motions. But thats all part of the Chinese culture as I just experienced in Shanghai the past week, where people hack spit whenever they feel the physical calling. While it was stranger in China, I was the outsider having to get used to it.
While some of what is perceived as rude by Westerners stems from cultural issues the notion of public space and privacy is very different in China other ill-manners date back to the Cultural Revolution when all that was seen as sophistication was considered bourgeois and severely punished. For example, what be seen as ruder to an outsider such as pushing, speaking loudly in public, picking your nose or not respecting personal space, is actually common behaviour in China. But as China is opening its borders to the World, many of its natives are becoming keenly aware of their perception overseas.
So some wealthier Chinese are now taking etiquette classes to adopt certain Western Mannerism to make cultural transitions smoother. Most of my clients had an embarrassing moment, overseas or during a business dinner. They come here because they want to make thing easier for themselves, said Sara-Jane Ho, the perfectly groomedInstitute Sarita school founder, a modern-day version of European finishing schools that caters to Chinese nouveaux riche.
Its mostly learning about how to behave in an international environment, said Ho, who herself studied etiquette at the Institut Villa Pierrefeu in Switzerland, one of the last proper finishing schools in the world. So far she has attracted a couple hundred wealthy Chinese to her courses. She opened a Shanghai branch in May of this year, and its sure to be a booming business as China is just behind the US in the number of high-net-worth individuals, with 190 billionaires and more than two million millionaires, according to research from Forbes magazine and Boston Consulting Group.
Clients who attend etiquette courses in China include government officials, children enrolled in overseas schools, wives looking to entertain important guests and those who enjoy travelling abroad. But you have to have somewhat of a budget as Ho charges 20,000 yuan ($3,243) per group of 10 for an afternoon session. No cheap fee but definitely worth the lack of awkward interactions.
(brl/red)
