The Art of Business Drinking in China-How to avoid death by 1,000 cups!

Since negotiation stuff seems to be on my mind-this HAS to be be next.

When it comes to eating and drinking, particularly drinking, there are few who can hold a cup to that epicurean giant called China. For more than 4,000 years, congenial cups of wine have been the inspiration for many of its great poets and artists. The examples of the role of alcohol in ancient Chinese culture are sometimes even outrageous. Li Bai (李白), one of the most cherished and influential poets in ancient Chinese history is purported to have drown after falling into the murky waters of the Yangtze River while trying to embrace the reflection of the moon. In Li's classic, "Amidst the Flowers, A Jug of Wine" he ironically and eloquently foretold his untimely demise. Even the great literary work "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is infused with booze and its consequences in almost every chapter. Suffice it to say, every major event shaping the rich history of China's past and present was likely conceived under a backdrop of food and plenty of drink. A highly entertaining essay pompously titled "Grandiose Survey of Chinese Alcoholic Drinks and Beverages" can be found at www.jiangan.edu.cn/zhgjiu/umain.htm for those who wish to study this relationship in great intellectual detail. No matter the occasion, whether birth or death, success or failure, conquest or defeat, wedding or divorce, an ample supply of alcohol is always on hand to lend support to the emotions of the moment. Needless to say, China and drinking go together like traffic and weather, and no more so than in the world of business.

When it comes to business, getting blind, dumb drunk, or at least reasonably intoxicated, remains still an important factor in building friendships and trust among business partners in China. While the increasing popularity of golf as a bridge to build relations has made a healthy dent in the alcohol fueled courtships of the past, in the world of business, an evening of pounding down shot after shot of grain alcohol still remains the SOP to success. Why? My own view is that getting sloshed together quickly breaks down barriers; you laugh, you sing, and the tongue is soon freed of the shackles of convention, allowing both sides to openly discuss matters at hand, provided of course the translator remains sober. Whether the occasion is seeking an important approval from a governmental body, the beginning or end of a negotiation, the celebration of a milestone in your business, or to motivate and recognize your staff, the desired outcome is more quickly reached over good food accompanied by huge quantities of alcohol.

Unfortunately, this is not without sometimes-tragic circumstances, as this recent news article so explicitly illustrates.

BEIJING, Oct 24 2006 (Reuters Life!) – "Five Chinese power bureau officials have been dismissed or demoted after an auditor died from a series of banquet binges, the Shanghai Daily reported on Tuesday. The death of Zhang Hongtao, 25, who worked with the Yanshan County Audit Office in northern Hebei province, was blamed on alcohol after banquets provided in April for auditors by the Yanshan Power Supply Co., the newspaper said. Instead of working, Zhang did little else but eat, drink, play cards and enjoy massages".

What a helluva way to go; Eating, drinking and massaging (insert sexual fantasies of your liking) yourself to death! As tragic as this incident is, it serves to remind that even today excesses of food and drink, especially drink, remain embedded in the business culture of China.

So, for those planning travel to China for business, or even working in China someday, it will be impossible to avoid completely an occasional moment of drunken debauchery, short of declaring a medical condition, an effective practice, but one that causes a great deal of suspicion on the part of your Chinese host. In the course of your dining and drinking adventures in China, one word you will learn all too quickly is "gan bei", which literally translates to dry glass or bottoms up! At every opportunity you will be toasted; toasts to your health, the health of the economy, the health of your family, the longevity of your friendship, the health of your dog, the list is endless. At the end of each toast, your host will shout out those gut retching (No, it IS NOT a misspelling) words, "gan bei", and you are expected to drain the contents of your glass, no matter it be an ounce or two of pure ethanol or a liter of tepid beer. The implications of a not heeding your host's invitation are severe; usually requiring you to quaff another 2-3 glasses in succession due to your oversight. As a seasoned (or is it pickled?) veteran of more than enough bouts of "ganbei", I want to share my knowledge, and hopefully, a bit of savvy advice on the often-entertaining experience of business drinking, as well as my time tested "six strategies" for survival drinking.

First, what will you be up against as you survey the quartet of glasses flanking your plate at lunch or dinner? The "official beverages" at any major banquet are of those "Four Horseman of Alcohol"; the dark and potent huang jiu (黄酒), a sweetly seductive sherry like wine fermented from rice, the ominous bai jiu (白酒), a lively clear spirit distilled from a potpourri of grains that flows so freely at most events, pi jiu (啤酒) or beer as we like to call it, and in the increasing more sophisticated cities, pu tao jiu (葡萄酒), the more palatable, usually red, grape wine. Yes, depending on the level of "friendship" you are trying to reach, it is not uncommon to ingest equal doses of all four over the course of the night, creating compelling evidence the next morning supporting the cautionary advice not to mix alcohols.

Since the common (and most dangerous) beverage of choice is bai jiu, first the scoop on this nasty little beast. Bai jiu translates to "white wine" and it is distilled from a pungent combination of sorghum, wheat, millet, rice and barley, a far cry from what most westerners deem wine to be. The percentage of alcohol ranges from 32% to as high as 67% and the effect of too many glasses is mind numbing to say the least. Although each province of China boasts its own distinctive brand, the most famous is Mao Tai, which comes from Guizhou province in the southern part of China. Another notable source is Sichuan province, famous for its spicy food and equally spicy women, and home to literally hundreds of brands, including those perennial members of the "National Famous Alcohol Drinks List", Luzhou Lao Jiu and Wu Liang Yie.

Second on the list is huang jiu, with a taste akin to a well made Madeira or vermouth. This sly beverage is known for putting many unsuspecting neophytes face down in their plate mid way through dinner if consumed too quickly, a mildly amusing pastime of your Chinese hosts. Ranging in color from pale amber to dark chocolate, huang jiu's honey like sweetness belies its alcohol content of 14-21% and it is often served warm with a garnish of slivered ginger or salty dried plum, further increasing the impact. Huang jiu was originally produced by fermenting rice together with a hint of wheat in large earthen vessels, where aging enhanced its tantalizing earthy flavor. Sometimes the wine is mixed with various herbs and botanicals, supposedly fortifying its already highly touted medicinal and aphrodisiac properties, important qualities in the male dominated world of business. Again, there are literally thousands of brands, but the finest and most famous are the wines of Shao Xing in ZheJiang province. Huang jiu coupled with the rich cuisine of eastern China such as hairy crab, crab roe and bean curd with egg yolk sauce, and braised sweet pork fat is truly gastronomical experience of the highest order, but remember to bring the beta blockers!

The last two "Horsemen" are the more familiar beer and wine which we are all familiar with. However, the drinking of each does have a few peculiarities unique to China that you need to be aware of. First, it is fundamental to warn that beer is almost always served at room temperature! Requesting a cold beer will usually either bring a prompt "mei you" (don't have) from the serving staff or, even worse, you will soon find a chunk of frozen water floating in your suds. Another bit of useful knowledge is that literally every city, town and village has their own brewery and you will be subjected to a host of libations under the alias of "beer". Wine, or grape wine, is a relatively recent addition to the banquet table, but is increasingly become the beverage of choice due to its touted health benefits as well as the aura of "sophistication" associated with wine, particularly French wines. Har dee har har!! Most of the so-called French wines so aggressively marketed at most dining establishments are either bottled plunk or wines that have been thoroughly "cooked" in a steel shipping container, where temperatures can soar over 40_ C for days on end. But, it is French wine, and we ALL know that French wine is the "best", alas, the experience of tasting a truly fine Bordeaux remains elusive to most. Perhaps these quality deficiencies are partly to blame for the incongruous practice of mixing wine and carbonated lemon/lime sodas that is so popular. In fairness, many professional wine merchants have made great inroads in China and it is increasingly possible to find good wine on the table. China also produces some truly fantastic wines of its own, and the safe bet is to always go local if the choices are brands such as Zhang Yu, Dragon Seal, and XinJiang Luo Lan. All are are well craft dry red wines that are very drinkable, and if your host offers up any of these you are in for a pleasant treat. The only downside is you will again be confronted with that annoying ritual of "gan bei", where rather than savoring the subtle nuance of the grapes, you are required to hurl the contents down your throat in the least time possible. Now to those rascally little drinking rituals you will almost always encounter.

The most common ritual is what I call "Ever Expanding Circle of Friends" where each and every member of the host's party, up to and including the driver of the mini bus who brought you there, wants to share a toast with you personally in honor of your new found friendship. Considering that the number of "new friends" can easily fill that mini bus, needless to say, you go down quickly if drawn into this vicious game. Another practice to avoid is "Frat House Party", so popular when beer is the main drink. Typical, after the usual formal toasts, someone stands to makes a heartfelt toast to your health and good fortune and then all stand and in unison guzzle a full liter of warm beer. The first to finish is honored by a round of cheers from the rest of the table and is normally challenged to a new round by the most inebriated of the group. This goes on until most of the table is back in the washrooms hurling chunks, giving added significance to the toast for good health that started the whole affair.

Finally, if you are one of those Alpha males or females who must win at all costs, always be vigilant of the ubiquitous, unassuming and matronly looking lady with the outdated wardrobe and gigantic eyeglasses. In China, the talent to consume huge quantities of alcohol is equally distributed across gender lines. In fact, some of my most infamous trips under the table (metaphorically speaking of course) were at the hands of a woman. She will lull you into her evil game of tit for tat and your last memory before you drift off into unconsciousness will be the smug smile on her lips as she places her again empty glass on the table.

To help you successfully navigate this treacherous torrent of ethanol I want to share "Lao Ke's Six Strategies for Survival Drinking", in order of effectiveness. Rest assured, these have been rigorously tested over a number of years and fine-tuned to perfection in hundreds, maybe even thousands of field trails, and are sure to help the uninitiated emerge mostly unscathed.

1. ALWAYS make the second toast under any circumstances. First, find the
largest vessel available, preferably with a capacity of at least 8 ounces (.25 l) and fill it to the brim with bai jiu. Request that your hosts do the same and bellow out "gan bei" as you drain your glass, spilling as much as possible on the way. Immediately repeat this process. This action plays on the element of fear that you might just be some sort of "wine ghost" and will quickly temper most everyone's appetite for further reckless drinking.

2. If you are fortunate enough to be accompanied by junior staff, promptly designate the least needed as your proxy. His or her job is to intercept all incoming "Circle of Friendship" glasses with the speed and efficiency of a heat-seeking missile. Depending on the size of your party you may need to also nominate a back up, as it is likely your initial nominee will be lost sometime mid-way through dinner.

3. Make sure to carry a large handkerchief and make generous use of your napkin. After each successive "gan bei" carefully feign a swallow while maintaining the liquid in your mouth. Quickly take up your napkin or handkerchief as if to wipe your lips and deposit as much as possible into the cloth, carefully wringing out the content on the floor. This of course does carry a risky side consequence of a massive fire should one of the hundreds of cigarettes that accompany dinner accidentally ignites the vapor.

4. Bring several liters of high quality, aged tequila and prior to dinner present this as a gift to your host as a token of your appreciation for the exquisite hospitality you have been given. Enthusiastically suggest that the tequila unseat the ubiquitous bai jiu; in fact insist on this as a gesture of your friendship and good will. Your hosts will be lulled into believing that the smoothness of this foreign spirit must mean it has no punch and they will continue to copiously sip, unaware of the mayhem to follow. The awkward hugs and sloppy kisses of gratitude you will be showered with later that evening will remain one of your fondest memories.

5. After each fill of your glass immediately beginning fondling the glass, spilling as much of the content as possible onto the table while maintaining constant eye contact with the rest of party at your table. This requires a high degree of eye-hand coordination, as you do not want to be caught in the act, and sometimes requires large cash payouts to the serving staff to avoid constant refilling. Unfortunately, this tactic is limited to the less visible spirits as in the case of red wine the telltale stain emanating from under your plate will be a dead giveaway. Also please be aware of the fire hazard that was discussed in 3 above.

6. Lastly, but often fostering suspicion of your character, carry a properly labeled vial, with some vague warnings of the risk of drinking alcohol while taking the original contents still clearly visible, which is filled with a number of harmless placebos. Boisterously announce your affinity for drinking and your utter disappointment that your doctor has temporarily asked you to abstain until this potentially fatal condition has been cured. This is of course a significant impediment to building a deep and meaningful friendship and should be used sparingly.

Tongue in cheek aside, a banquet in this warmly hospitable and cultured nation can easily become one of your most cherished memories, particularly if you are
still able to remember it! More importantly, the frequent sharing of food and drink, especially drink, is a fundamental step to building strong working relationships in China. Hopefully this little bit of advice will make sure that all happens.

Gan Bei!

Never under pay the translator!-and other lessons for negotiation in Asia

Our beleaguered and beloved Commander in Chief of Verbal Blunder was once again the subject of controversy ahead of the APEC summit last week in Sydney. A rather testy exchange ensued when his Excellency G. W. Bush was pressed by President Roh of South Korea to explain again his position on ending the Korean War. The official reason for their public display of disharmony was later chalked up to bad translation. That would mean that the state department of the world’s largest economy and its counterpart from the world’s 12th largest, with months to prepare for this summit, flat out blew it. For those of you who have absolutely no idea (or perhaps, interest) of how that could have happened, the answer is it probably DID NOT happen, but it was a wonderful excuse that allowed both leaders to save face. Regardless of the actual correctness or lack of correctness of the translation, this incident does highlight how important translation, not only of words but also ideas, is to the success of negotiations between parties with different culture, values and languages.

Without question, we are well into an era of rising Asian influence, particularly in business and world affairs, and we need to face the fact that our future success may well be determined by how well we can bridge the cultural and language differences this presents. Having spent over a decade negotiating my way through business and life in the Middle Kingdom, I learned a great deal about how little I understood my Asian counterparts, be they Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese or Korean. While I was by some measures successful, I also learned to be modest enough not to claim expert status; however some of the lessons I learned I believe are worth sharing.

Here is my “top 11”, and although there are many other lists of this nature, perhaps far better and more comprehensive than mine, I think you will find mine valuable in its candor, as well as my emphasis on “don’t” rather than “do”.

1. Don’t ever believe what you see or hear. This is “the” cardinal rule of doing business in most of Asia. Why? Most westerners are so eager to find the mother lode, be it a reliable low-cost supplier, an efficient channel to the market, an original Ming dynasty antique or an “insider” with power to name a few, that they leave common sense in the overhead bin on departure. There are hundreds of brick and mortar buildings born from a can of paint, and Kim Jong Il is one helluva golfer! Yes your competitor’s price is lower, but that was from a decade ago and the freight was not included.

2. Don’t EVER take yes for an answer. Yes means maybe or perhaps even no, but seldom means yes. Maybe means yes, no or maybe, just maybe. There is really no no, but you will soon learn which yes or maybe means no. The concept of courtesy you are familiar with does not extend to negative answers, the other party’s does. Admittedly, it does feel a whole lot better to hear maybe rather than no.

3. Don’t be in such a hurry. Your perception of time was shaped by “The One-Minute Manager” and 60-second sound bites, and the other party’s biggest advantage is knowing the return date on your ticket, which you so generously offer up in the opening round. Think millenniums, generations and how auspicious is this month anyway?

4. Don’t ever get too full of yourself. Sure, that police escort from the airport was cool and that was probably the first (and maybe last time) in your life a mayor met you on the tarmac, but get a grip. The “mayor” is one of a dozen or so vice mayors whose principal job is just that and the police escort was less for you than for him. Yes, you were on television at 1am this morning, and no, the translation did not have any resemblance to what you actually said. By the way, that cousin of Chairman Mao you had lunch with is a bit more distant than you might have been led to believe.

5. Don’t underpay your translator. It is wonderful you have installed Babelfish on your laptop, not to mention you have spent hours honing your Vietnamese with that honey you met at the bar, but the truth of the matter is, unless this is your native language you will be hopelessly clueless in most negotiations. A loyal and dependable native speaker is worth his or her weight in gold when it comes time to finalize the deal if you have any hope of keeping your shirt. Your “no” can easily become “yes”, and those meeting notes you just signed can and will be used against you when your company’s trademark suddenly appears on a new line of condoms.

6. Don’t ever believe anyone across the table from you has the authority to decide anything other than where to go for lunch. The real decision maker is busy on far more important matters than yours and will be briefed on your discussions later, maybe. Your chances of this happening are far higher if you heeded lesson 3 by the way.

7. Don’t ignore or anger that grumpy old man at the end of the table who seems to always be sleeping. I know the books you read and the experts you talked to all emphasized the importance of protocol and that the person directly across from you was likely your equal, and he probably is, but that grumpy old man was sent by the chairman to keep an eye on your equal.

8. Don’t try too hard to prove you deserved your MBA. Your frequent use of ROCE, ROI, EBITDA, LBO, opportunity cost, linear regression modeling, NPV, DCF and functional matrix worked pretty good on your resume but the multi-taskers you are facing now march to a different drum altogether. You will be wise to keep terms simple and easy to understand. This also greatly reduces the chance that your own shallow knowledge is exposed under intense efforts to explain what your version of DCF really means.

9. Don’t be offended when your host suggests a visit to the barbershop after a particularly tough and long round of talks. No, he is not mocking your latest take on the mullet; in fact, it is not very likely the barbershop he has in mind even cuts hair. Assuming you are a male, there are known weaknesses that are universal and this one can be particularly difficult to defend (wink, wink!). If so, politely decline. This also applies to the “Curious incident of the knock on the door in the middle of the night” as well as various adventures at Karaoke.

10. Don’t call your boss and gleefully announce that the contract will be signed “tomorrow”. Matter of fact; don’t even spend much time writing the contract. First, tomorrow has different meanings (see Lesson 2) and second, those words on paper are just a record of a particular moment in time of a young, but promising, relationship. The legal department may not completely understand that either.

11. Don’t ask too many questions about the origin or species of what lies on your plate. Try it first and then ask question later. You will be surprised how many ways you can cook a grasshopper and your gastronomical adventures will dominate the next cocktail party back home. Bon Appetit!

Negotiation 101-what I learned at the wet market

The propensity and power to successfully negotiate shows up early in life. Ask any parent whose argument against buying that particular toy has been mercilessly dissected by the patient, well-reasoned logic of their 6 year old child if you have any doubts. The practice of negotiation is older than Methuselah and is used consciously and unconsciously almost every time we speak to one another, whether to buy something, to borrow something or even to beg something, such as those generally unfruitful efforts with the traffic police. The story line is pretty much the same in any case; one party wants something that the other party has the power to provide, and both parties want the final deal to favor their own interest. Even that sacred act of marriage is only consummated after a usually tough round of give and take.

Most successful negotiators will be the first to tell you that good negotiation is
more art than science, and the act of negotiation is as good of a test of your character as any other. Emotions, ethics, empathy, tolerance, patience, perseverance, honesty and prepared are words that I most associate with negotiation. And while there are tomes of books and thousands of seminars that promise to teach you negotiation skills, my own experience and observation is the best lessons in negotiation can be found in Asia, and there are no better teachers than the hordes of housewives who daily browse through the wet markets to buy fresh vegetables for dinner. Lets take an imaginary trip along with one such housewife and I think you will get the picture.

First, there is a very clear objective or preconception of what will happen. Vegetables are needed for dinner. The household favorite is spinach and that is what she looking for, but there are other vegetables that are also good, so if the spinach is not fresh or the cost is too high, kale or broccoli will do just as well.

Next is to consider how much time she has to buy the vegetables. The day is still young but she doesn't want to spend more than a couple of hours at the market, and lots of this time will be used up already chatting with friends and neighbors. Of course some of this chatting will be talk of who has the freshest and least costly spinach today.

Now she needs to decide where to buy the spinach and she needs more than one option to get the best deal. She already knows where to find the freshest and most tender spinach from her chatting and browsing.

OK, here it gets more difficult. She needs to determine what the other party expects or needs to complete the deal; in this case, what price the farmer is willing to sell his
spinach today. Of course this is never easy because she doesn't know how the farmer's day is going, and she has never bought from farmer "A" before either, so she is not sure how is his style, but needs to find out. The conversation probably goes something like this:

Housewife: Those are nice carrots you have, how much are they today?
Farmer A: These are the best carrots in the whole county. I want you to buy them so
I give you a special price of only 5 Yuan a bunch.
Housewife: Oh! That is so expensive. I can buy them over there for only 2 Yuan.
Farmer A: But those carrots are not as good as mine. But you are a nice lady and I
want you to buy my carrots so I will give you a special price of 3 Yuan.
Housewife: Oh! Still too expensive!
Farmer A: My carrots are the best. It cost me 2 Yuan to grow them. The best price is
already to low! But, if you will be two bunches I can give you a small discount, 5 Yuan for both.
Housewife: Hahaha! You are a robber instead of a farmer, still too expensive! How
much is that spinach you have? Is it made of gold also?
Farmer A: The spinach is same price as carrots.
Housewife: Golden carrots and golden spinach! Ai Yah!
Farmer A: Ok, you seem to be a nice person and I want you to buy my carrots. How
much can you pay?

The housewife then walks away with disinterest, generally with the farmer still asking,
"how much you will pay, what is your price?" The savvy housewife will say nothing of
course, as she is not yet ready to buy, and by doing nothing, she has remained flexible in reaching a deal. She has however established her bottom line indirectly to the farmer when she claimed to be able to buy at the price somewhere else. This process is repeated at the next stall, with variations of course, unless there is some clandestine "farmer cartel " operating in the background, until the housewife has determined as best she can which farmer is likely to give her the best deal.

Notice she has not yet committed or even hinted at her bottom line, but she has gotten a very good sense of each farmer's bottom line and style of negotiation. Now it is time to buy the spinach and go home. Farmer A seemed eager to sell his carrots and his spinach was pretty good, so back to Farmer A's stall.

Housewife: You seem rather slow today so maybe I will buy some of your carrots and
maybe some spinach too. I will give you 3 Yuan for one bunch of carrots and one bunch of spinach. Ok?
Farmer A: Hahaha! I can make no money at that price! It is getting late so just for
you, I give you both for 4.5 Yuan.
Housewife: Here is 3.5 Yuan in my hand. Take it and give me the vegetables.
Farmer A: Oh, too cheap! Give me 4 Yuan.

Our outwardly irritated housewife begins to walk away and, as she has expertly
calculated from their earlier exchange, the farmer shouts back, " Ok, you are cheating me but I give you both for 3.9 Yuan to save me from having to cart them back home." The housewife comes back then proceeds to find a blemish on 1 or 2 carrots, and after another mildly heated discussion with the farmer, walks away with a bunch of spinach for only 1.9 Yuan.

In reality both parties are reasonably satisfied or the deal would not have been concluded.

Global arms treaties, corporate takeovers and divorce settlements aside; this rather simple exercise teaches the most important fundamentals of negotiation. The interesting but seldom practiced fact is that all things in life are negotiable if you know what you want, make sure you have suitable options, invest some time to carefully study your options, gain an understanding of the other parties needs and are willing and able to walk away if your bottom line is not reached.

Beats shopping at Wal-Mart doesn't it?