The 'menu' derives its strength from the fact that it can be used to read people from all over the world, no matter the culture, as long as you are willing to put time and effort into learning about the people and culture in question.
The 'menu' is the backbone of the approach and we can use it to study Chinese people of Mainland China. My aim is to explain that the Chinese make different choices from this 'menu' than Westerners, and explain why Westerners have so much trouble accepting the different choices common to Chinese behavior.
Again, I do not intend to generalize all Chinese people and will not claim that what follows applies to each and everyone. There are considerable differences between the Chinese, be they from Beijing and Shanghai, from the East or the West, the countryside or the city. Education level and economic status also are factors. I am only referring to the 'tastes' of the Chinese in general, what is commonly appreciated and what is not, as a means to identify and understand the differences between cultures. I am convinced that beneath the differences in behavior of Chinese people individually, there is a common basis, a common appreciation that goes for every Chinese person on Mainland China.
Below you will find the 'menu', applied to the tastes of the Chinese
The tastes of the Chinese
| Keeping quiet within Chinese society |
Over Compensating within Chinese society |
Fighting within Chinese society |
Fleeing within Chinese society |
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| Safety in numbers within Chinese society |
Keeping distance within Chinese society |
Aiming to please within Chinese society |
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