I pushed myself to go to the first Ignite Event in Beijing, a few days ago, even though it was all in Chinese and only 1 of the presentations was in English. I can get around with directions and my minimal knowledge of the language, but attempting to listen to the speakers, it’s confirmed that I have much to learn from the language, culture, and creative/tech industry.
More boggling to encounter was the informality (or formality?) of handing out business cards as a way of introduction. In the States (and Western world), we’re used to keeping our contact information quite personal, until we feel someone is ‘worthy of’ our information. Here, however, I was surprised to have people approach me with a business card in-hand, prior to having any sort of conversation as a way of introduction. I’m quite easily surprised! It makes introductions rather simple and more important to have your story on your card…
One thought on “nice to meet you, here’s my card.”
There is a funny list comparing what Chinese do and what Laowai (foreigners) do. It has a point on business card exchange. Chinese people might need a room to archive business cards they received, but they seldom look up or contact any of them. Reason? You might want to find it out by yourself.