Journalism in China...

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

One of my fellow writers in China, sent me this partial transcript regarding why a journalist in small town China, might as well be a hard-core journalist at home:

 

Read carefully, and you will catch the finer points of culture:

 

Why, instead of being a small-town journalist in China, I might as well be a hard-core investigative reporter at home

 

 

JJ: ¡°My first question is: what is your shoe size¡±

 

Translator whispers, alarmed, ¡°Jenny, you can¡¯t ask this question so directly.¡±

 

JJ: ¡°Alright, sorry, I will reformulate: Many people in China wear shoes. You have very beautiful feet and I am sure not everyone has such beautiful feet; why, they almost look European! You must have graduated from a highly reputable university! So when you buy shoes, you probably look for a very special shoe size. What would that size be?¡±

 

ML: ¡°Oh I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t know much about this topic.¡±

 

JJ: ¡°But you agreed to this interview about your shoe size and you¡¯re currently wearing shoes, right?¡±

 

ML: ¡°Yes but your answer is so specific; maybe you should ask someone who is in charge of that, probably a shoe factory manager, or the cultural bureau.¡±

 

JJ: ¡°So you can¡¯t tell me your shoe size?¡±

 

ML: ¡°This is not my responsibility. Maybe you can go on the internet and research it there. I can recommend you some websites, also for downloading music if you like.¡±

 

JJ: ¡°But I am asking you because you would be able to give me a direct and rightful answer. And you are wearing a shoe right now. You really can¡¯t tell me your shoe size?¡±

 

ML: ¡°You know, this is China, things are not so easy here. You should learn how things are done in China.¡±

 

JJ: ¡°I¡¯m just curious: did you ever leave Guangdong Province?¡±

 

ML: ¡°No.¡±

 

JJ: ¡°Okay. So how about we just lift up your shoe for a second and check the size.¡±

 

ML: ¡°Maybe you want to ask Mister Wang about his shoe size? He drives a BMW too and his son is learning English, a very smart little boy!¡±

 

JJ: ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary. As the article is about you, it would be better to hear it from you. So maybe you could just lift your foot up for a second and I can¡­¡±

 

ML: ¡°I¡¯m sorry, you know, these days it is very rainy so I can¡¯t lift my shoe today. It is not good for my skin. Also, it is ten minutes to twelve ¨C almost lunchtime! Maybe next week okay?¡±

 

JJ: ¡°Hm. Well¡­do you need any help? I could just grab the shoe right here and lift it¡­¡±

 

ML: ¡°No, please accept my sincerest apology¡­would you like some of these lychees?¡±

 

JJ: ¡°No thank you¡­I have been given too many lychees lately. Buckets full¡­too many!¡±

 

ML: ¡°Here, take these lychees.¡± (Grabs a large pile of lychees and shoves them into a plastic bag)

 

JJ: ¡°No¡­really¡­we already have too many lychees at the office. They are getting bad before we can finish them all.¡±

 

ML: ¡°You should not deny Chinese hospitality. These are the best lychees in Dongguan and they are famous across China!¡±

 

JJ: ¡°I appreciate your hospitality and truly do not want to be disrespectful. But it would be such a pity to let these wonderfully lychees go to waste.¡±

 

ML: ¡°Here you go¡­a nice big bag full of lychees. You should try one now.¡±

 

JJ: ¡°No thank you, I can¡¯t eat right now, I have been having stomach problems again lately and get diarrhea easily.¡±

 

ML: ¡°Eat the lychee.¡±

 

JJ: ¡°Thanks but really, I¡­¡±

 

ML: ¡°Eat it!¡±

 

JJ: ¡°Alright, alright. (Slowly peels open a lychee) To get back to my question¡­¡±

 

ML: ¡°Oh I¡¯m sorry¡­my aunt just died, I need to return to my home town immediately. But when I¡¯m back in a month, it would be great if my friend¡¯s company could get free advertising in your magazine!¡±

 

 

JJ thinks: ¡°Didn¡¯t her aunt just die last week, and also one month ago??¡±

 

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

Maybe instead of journalism, I shoulda called it, chillin

 

 

[weiaijiayou]

JJ: ¡°My first question is: what is your shoe size¡±

 

Translator whispers, alarmed, ¡°Jenny, you can¡¯t ask this question so directly.¡±

 

JJ: ¡°Alright, sorry, I will reformulate: Many people in China wear shoes. You have very beautiful feet and I am sure not everyone has such beautiful feet; why, they almost look European! You must have graduated from a highly reputable university! So when you buy shoes, you probably look for a very special shoe size. What would that size be?¡±

 

ML: ¡°Oh I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t know much about this topic.¡±

 

ML: ¡°No, please accept my sincerest apology¡­would you like some of these lychees?¡±

 

JJ: ¡°No thank you¡­I have been given too many lychees lately. Buckets full¡­too many!¡±

Jenny should have built up some rapport with ML before asking about his shoes. perhaps if she'd taken him out to lunch or went for a walk outside with him she could have begun an actual give-and-take conversation. she could have worked on developing some trust and then approached the issue without having to ask such an abrupt and direct question. given most western reporters' stances on a lot of chinese issues, i wouldn't have trusted her to write a balanced story about my shoes, either.

 

later, she doesn't even take the lychees! geez, just EAT some!

[credzba]

I read it to my (Chinese) wife.

She said yes, the interviewer needs to be less direct.

She was serious!

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

JJ: ¡°My first question is: what is your shoe size¡±

 

Translator whispers, alarmed, ¡°Jenny, you can¡¯t ask this question so directly.¡±

 

JJ: ¡°Alright, sorry, I will reformulate: Many people in China wear shoes. You have very beautiful feet and I am sure not everyone has such beautiful feet; why, they almost look European! You must have graduated from a highly reputable university! So when you buy shoes, you probably look for a very special shoe size. What would that size be?¡±

 

ML: ¡°Oh I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t know much about this topic.¡±

 

ML: ¡°No, please accept my sincerest apology¡­would you like some of these lychees?¡±

 

JJ: ¡°No thank you¡­I have been given too many lychees lately. Buckets full¡­too many!¡±

Jenny should have built up some rapport with ML before asking about his shoes. perhaps if she'd taken him out to lunch or went for a walk outside with him she could have begun an actual give-and-take conversation. she could have worked on developing some trust and then approached the issue without having to ask such an abrupt and direct question. given most western reporters' stances on a lot of chinese issues, i wouldn't have trusted her to write a balanced story about my shoes, either.

 

later, she doesn't even take the lychees! geez, just EAT some!

 

Actually, the story is meant to illustrate a point. I am also a journalist, but one who works with technical information, rather than human interest stuff.

 

My job has always required me to interview people to get information. So, we sit in a quiet area usually, like a meeting or conference room, and I proceed to ask questions, much the same as any news reporter would. These meetings are pre-arranged, and the person knew I was coming, and what we were going to talk about. So, they came to the meeting prepared to answer questions about the agreed topic. That's the way it works in the West.

 

However, here in the East, that is not so much the case. I still do the same interviews I always have, but here in China it requires a far different flair. For example, in the West, I would ask a question like:

 

"Will this new release enable the user to configure proxy settings?"

 

That is typically the kind of question that requires a Yes or No answer, followed by some supporting evidence or information.

 

However, that sort of question or any like it, rarely will get you the answer you need or want. Instead, you will frequently be required to re-phrase or restate the question in several different ways before you can get confirmation.

 

There are some Chinese who have been educated in the West who are much better at answering questions directed by Westerners. From these people, it's a little easier to get the Yes and No answers that are needed for confirmation. This is likely something rooted deeply in culture, as things in China are not painted with the black / white, yes / no, as Western people are familiar and expect in their day to day lives.

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

This is likely something rooted deeply in culture, as things in China are not painted with the black / white, yes / no, as Western people are familiar and expect in their day to day lives.

Say what??????? The Chinese person I know best is very much black/white, yes/no, good/bad. There is no grey and that is one of our challenges because I think everything is a shade of grey.

 

You must be suffering from the, I'm sorry, I forgot about that syndrome.

 

* Have you ever been ready to go somewhere, that was planned days in advance, and noticed your wife wasn't quite ready and then was bold enough to ask, "How much longer honey?"

 

* Do you recall the times when your wife was able to carefully explain to you in extreme detail, the difference between two appliances, articles of clothing, or food, for which there appear to be no apparent differences whatsoever other than price?

 

* Have you ever tried to discuss the differences between being penny wise, and dollar foolish, and not only finished the conversation, but ended up satisfied she understood what you were saying?

Edited June 18, 2009 by ShaQuaNew (see edit history)

[weiaijiayou]

Actually, the story is meant to illustrate a point.

 

There are some Chinese who have been educated in the West who are much better at answering questions directed by Westerners.

if the point is that interviewing someone in china would be different from interviewing someone in the usa, then that is a valid point.

 

there are also some americans educated in the east who are better at asking questions of easterners. e.g., sufei:

 

you need guanxi before anyone's going to take you seriously, and then you need rapport with the specific person...

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

Actually, the story is meant to illustrate a point.

 

There are some Chinese who have been educated in the West who are much better at answering questions directed by Westerners.

if the point is that interviewing someone in china would be different from interviewing someone in the usa, then that is a valid point.

 

there are also some americans educated in the east who are better at asking questions of easterners. e.g., sufei:

 

you need guanxi before anyone's going to take you seriously, and then you need rapport with the specific person...

 

A large number of Western businesses have come to China and failed, because they were unsuccessful in making or understanding the cultural differences. For example, Chrysler and Disney. Two large companies that you would think would be better able to get it.

 

You're right though. A Westerner can't just start behaving in the same manner they would at home and expect to make it. I've been invited to a large number of events after working hours. I try to go to every single one. You are expected to sit, talk, have fun, and of course: drink.

 

It's very well received when the laowai takes the initiative to go from table to table with a full glass to toast everyone. You've got to be quite bold to do this at first, but after a few drinks, everyone gets into it. These event are considered "team building." Not the same kind of team building where Westerners go out for one or two days, and play games on obstacle courses and wot not.

 

It's very important to prevent others from viewing you as too good, stuck up, or aloof.