Chinese Business Culture

Q : How do I address a Chinese individual at business occasions
AEROUANT : When doing business in China, you should always address the person by title and last name at all business occasions. For example, Director Li, or Chairman Wang. This part of the Chinese business culture is similar to the Western business etiquette. If you do not know the person's title, replacing the title with Mr. or Ms. will work just fine. For example, Mr. Li or Ms. Wang. Il n'est pas coutume en Chine de s'adresser à une personne par le prénom, particulièrement dans les relations d'affaires. It is not Chinese custom to address a Chinese person by the first name, especially at business occasions.

Q : What are the major Chinese holidays in China ?
AEROUANT : Celebrating Chinese New Year is a major event annually in the Chinese culture. In addition, there are two other Chinese holiday seasons, Labor Day and National Day. These two additional Chinese holidays are specific only to China. Therefore, China has three major holidays around the year - Chinese New Year in January or February, Labor Day on May First, and National Day on October First. The non-working days around the above Chinese holidays in China last between 5 to 8 days. This is because the Chinese businesses typically combine the previous two weekend days and the following two weekend days with the official 2-4 holidays. So, making sure to work your schedule around the major Chinese holidays will help to save you unnecessary troubles when doing business in China.

Translation in China

Q : What is the most popular Chinese dialect, Mandarin or Cantonese?
AEROUANT : Mandarin is the most popular dialect. It is mainly used in Mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore. These areas represent a population over 1.3 billion Chinese. Mandarin dialect is the official and standard dialect in Mainland China. Almost all TV and radio stations announce in Mandarin dialect. The China education system requires that all schoolteachers in China must teach Mandarin. In Mainland China, Mandarin is called "putonghua", meaning "common language". The Cantonese dialect is popular in Canton (Guangdong) province of China, Hong Kong and with overseas Chinese in cities.

Q : Are there more dialects in China?
AEROUANT : Yes. Besides Mandarin and Cantonese, there are many other Chinese dialects. People from Hunan, Shanghai, Guangxi, Hangzhou, Sichuan, Liaoning, Fujian, Guizhou, and many other provinces or cities, have their own dialects. People from Beijing also have their own dialect. Beijing dialect is often considered THE Mandarin since Mandarin is based on the Beijing dialect. Due to the difficulties in communication among different Chinese dialect groups, the Chinese authorities in both Mainland and Taiwan decided to unify spoken Chinese by implementing Mandarin dialect as the standard dialect.

Q : Why do I need someone specialized in Mandarin for my Chinese translation work?
AEROUANT : Your Chinese translation will be more native to Mainland Chinese. Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao were historically separated for 40-50 years with minimum cultural exchange. As a result, each area has independently developed words and expressions that are not understandable to the Chinese in another area without further explanation. For Chinese translation, translators specializing in Mandarin translation facilitate your goal for reaching the Chinese in Mainland China.