Beijing is the capital city of China with over 15 million people. It has a long history dating back 700 years. Culturally, China values collectiveness over individualism. In Beijing, etiquette like waiting to be seated for meals and not making noises with chopsticks is important. Public transportation includes trains, subways, buses and bicycles. The climate is continental with cold, dry winters and hot, rainy summers. Mandarin is the national language and traditional dress and modern fashion reflect Chinese culture.

1. “Communication Between
Cultures”
Beijing, China
Compared to the
U.S By: Steven Baker

2. Beijing Facts
•Collective, individualistic society
•Located on the Northeastern Asia Continent, borders Yellow Sea
•Beijing is the capital of The peoples Republic of China, the city has been the capital
throughout since the 13th century Ming Dynasty over 700 yrs
•It now has a population of over 15 million people
•This makes Beijing the second largest city in China
•The city is the central location for the country’s education, transportation, and
communication
•Telephone code is 86
•Time zone is plus 13 hours Eastern Time
•Mountainous terrain covers 68% rest is relatively flat 1

3. Food and Dining
•Wait to be seated. Whoever invited pays
•Oldest person sits furthest from the door facing the door host sits across from them
•Best dish for elder. If there is a head it is pointed away from body ex. duck head
•Don't dig in the food on a plate but just get the piece which you want to get
•Don't pick one piece then drop it back in the plate and change to another piece
•Don't let your chopsticks be covered with food juice or residue
•Don't use chopsticks to beat any utensils to make any noise
•Don't wave your chopsticks
•Don't use chopsticks like forks
•Don't use chopsticks as toothpicks
•Don't lick or suck your chopsticks
•Don't put chopsticks vertically in rice in a bowl since it resembles the incense sticks
for the dead
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4. Common Dishes
White rice, Chicken, Noodles, and Sushi are just some of the favorites
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5. Driving
•In mainland China, traffic drives on the right-hand side of the road. Various
neighbors — Hong Kong, Macau, India, Nepal and Pakistan — drive on the left
•In minor accident most people just drive on. Luxury car owner think their above
the law and most of the time they are
Speed limits are as follows:
•30 km/h (19 mph) on city roads where there is only one lane per direction, 40
km/h (25 mph) on China National Highways;
•up to 70 km/h (43 mph) on city roads where there is a major road with central
reservation or two yellow lines, 80 km/h (50 mph) on China National Highways;
•100 km/h (62 mph) on city express roads;
•120 km/h (75 mph) on expressways.
•Tolerance is generally around 10 km/h (6 mph)
•China has over 100,000 driving accident deaths per year 4

6. Places to See
Erected in 1420
As a place for heaven
Worship for the emperor
Shaolin Temple
This is a place where you can go to learn martial arts
Palace Museum
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7. Places to See Continued
Beijing Zoo
Red Panda
Great Wall
Of China
(Most Known)
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8. Economy
•1 Chinese yuan = 0.145463 U.S. dollars
•3rd largest behind U.S and Japan 4.1 trillion GDP
•Low- Middle class make about $2,000 / year so still poor
•Cheap labor that’s why U.S jobs are being exported
•Economy has changed dramatically under communist rule
•1950’s began to industrialize and become more self sufficient
•Industries began producing iron, steel and other metals; machinery, including cranes,
locomotives, automotive equipment, and electronics equipment
•Beijing is also one of China's textile centers.
•Crafts include rugs and carpets, porcelain and china
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9. Environment
•The quality of air in Beijing has declined as a result
of increased industry and increased numbers of
automobiles, trucks, and people
•Polluted water has resulted from more people and
industry, though the city is one of the few in China with a sanitary sewage system
•The insufficient supply of water is a major problem because the climate is comparatively
dry
•Water shortages, however, result more often from poor agricultural practices than from
industrial waste. Beijing is surrounded by a zone of intensive farming that produces grain
and vegetables for the urban market
•Most of the city's water is supplied from Kuan-t'ing, the largest man-made lake in the
North China Plain 8

10. Government and Politics
Headquarters
President: Hu Jintao
Vice President: Xi Jinping
Prime Minister: Wen Jiabao
Vice Prime Ministers: Li Keqiang, Hui Liangyu,
Zhang Dejiang, Wang Oisham
State Councillors: Liu Yandong, Liang Guanglie,
Ma Kia, Meng Jianzhu, Dai Bingguo
Secretary General: Ma Kia
President and Vice President Elected by
Congress. Have 5 yr terms
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11. Culture
•Chinese love festivals and Opera
•Chinese culture developed in isolation from the rest of the world
•Protected by the Himalayas, the Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts, rainforests to the
South and Siberian winters to the North.
•Therefore it grew up distinctly different from the rest of the world
•Philosophy and culture are tightly intertwined.
•Chinese beliefs have always been a part of Chinese culture more than they have
been part of any one religion or philosophy.
•Traditional Chinese religion is Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism
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12. Culture Continued
•The People's Republic of China is a unified, multi-national country, comprising 56
nationalities.
•Dominant Culture: The Han people make up 91.02 percent of the total
population,
•Leaving 8.98 percent for the other 55 ethnic minorities. They are Mongolian, Hui,
Tibetan, Uygur, Miao, Yi, Zhuang, Bouyei, Korean, Manchu, Dong, Yao and ect.
•All nationalities in China are equal according to the law.
•The State protects their lawful rights and interests and promotes equality, unity
and mutual help among them.
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13. Common Words and Phrases
•The national language is Putonghua (the I don't want- Wo Bu Yao
common speech) or Mandarin, which is one of
Excuse Me- Jie Guo
the five working languages at the United
Good Bye Zai Jian
Nations.
•Most of the 55 minority nationalities have Hello- Ni Hao
their own languages. Thank You- Xie Xie
•Cantonese is one of the local dialects of
Hamburger-Hanbaobao
southern China.
•As a written language, Chinese has been used Rice- Mi
Taxi- De Shi
for 6,000 years. Steven
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14. Gestures
•If you are meeting someone especially elders you shake hands and lower head
•Interlocking your pinkies is showing you wish the person good fortune
•Right hand over heart means sincere promise
•Locking your hands together and shaking them over your head means Thank You
•Putting index finger on chin shows hesitation and looking down upon
•Arm up and elbow pointed towards the ground is same as middle finger in U.S
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15. Etiquette
•If you meet important person you should bow
•Don't lose your temper
•If you're invited to a home, bring a present like fruit, sweets or tea. Avoid giving clocks o
pears because clocks represent death and pears represent separation
•The floor is seen as dirty, don't sit on it, if you want to, put newspaper down
•Take care not to criticize people too harshly in front of others.
•Don't expect vast amounts of privacy - there's not enough space for it
•Try not to worry about people spitting, they are not doing it to insult you
•Don’t talk about politics
•Respect elders, handshake not staring them in the eyes
•Don’t like to waste time
•4 in most unlucky 8 is luckiest
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•Remove shoes before entering someone's house

16. Etiquette Continued
• Bring a small gift to the hostess.
•Eat well to demonstrate that you are enjoying the food
• Learn to use chopsticks.
•Wait to be told where to sit. The guest of honor will be given a seat facing the door.
•The host begins eating first.
• You should try everything that is offered to you.
•Never eat the last piece from the serving tray.
• The host offers the first toast.
• Do not put bones in your bowl.
•Hold the rice bowl close to your mouth while eating.
• Do not be offended if a Chinese person makes slurping or belching sounds; it
merely indicates that they are enjoying their food.
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17. Business Etiquette Li Ka Shing
richest man in
•Bring own interpreter China
•New ask Chinese to turn off cell phones
•Only senior members speak
•Usually takes a long time for them to make decisions
•Arrive on time
•Have business cards never write on someone else’s business card
•Don’t wear bright colors, women no heels, conservative business suit
•Meals are social events not places to discuss meetings
•No sexual bias in Chinese culture
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18. Transportation
Rail Train
Subway
Automobile
Buses
Bicycle
(over 3 million)
Airplane- 2
Airports 17

19. Education and School
•Teachers have authority, no questions
•Can’t raise hand till after lecture
•A teacher showing in Beijing, China shows how
to use abacus. Before the Hindu-
Arabic numeration system was used,
people counted, added, and subtracted
with an abacus--a forerunner of today's
calculator.
•2 major colleges Beijing University (campus college) Quinghua University (technical)
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20. Education Continued
•Today it is estimated that 78 percent of adults are literate.
•The average primary school student has about one chance in 145 of enrolling in a
university or college good political background is a requirement.
•The political climate changed in the late 1970s.
•Admission came to be based on achievement, and scholastic goals emphasized
technical learning and proficiency in subject matter.
•China. Since 1978 the only requirement for admission to college has been a passing
score on a college-entrance examination.
•Most students become burnt out because of going to school all the time
•The traditional educational system in China was based on literacy and the ability to
read and write essays about the Confucian classics.
•The early 20th century was a period of rapid educational and intellectual change.
•Since the Communists came to power in 1949 literacy has risen rapidly.
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21. Common Dress
•In every culture, clothing is one of the most powerful and ubiquitous forms
of visual communication.
•By using visual clues provided by clothing, people quickly 'place' each
other, making guesses about the gender, social status, occupation, ethnic or
national identity
•Some signify their membership within various groups through how they
dress.
•China today has become more modernized to try to look cool and trendy
•Wear clothes to express their personality and mood.
They wear lots of red, black and bright colors
•Some still wear traditional to show off their heritage 20

22. Climate
•Beijing has a climate that is largely continental with warm summers and long, cold,
dry winters.
•Cold, dry winds blow a great deal of dust onto the city from as far away as the
Loess Plateau and Gobi of Mongolia.
•Precipitation averages 25 inches (64 centimeters) per year.
•Most of the rainfall occurs in the months of June, July, and August
•Average temperature is 52 degrees Celsius
4 distinct weather seasons
Spring: 10-22°C
Summer: 22°C and above
Autumn: 10-22°C
Winter: 10°C
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23. Family’s and Their Names
•Chinese family names came into being some 5,000 years ago.
•There are more than 5,000 family names, of which 200 to 300 are popular.
•The order of Chinese names is family name goes first, following by given name.
•For instance, the family name of a person is Wang, given name is Dong, his/her
full name would be Wang Dong .
•The most popular Chinese family names are LI, ZHANG, WANG, LI, ZHAO, LIU,
CHEN.
•According to the most recent official statistics, the three most popular family
names are: LI, WANG and ZHANG, occupied 7.9% (97million), 7.4 and 7.1 of total
population in China respectively
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24. Reference Page
Works Cited
CIA. China. 20 November 2008. 3 December 2008
<https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html>.
Hugh, David. China Facts. 19 May 2008. 3 December 2008
<http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.rotarymanningham.org/img/chinese-
flag.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.rotarymanningham.org
Juan, Si. China Today. 2 September 2008. 3 December 2008 <http://www.chinatoday.com/>.
Parkinson, Rhonda. Chinese Food. 3 December 2008. 3 December 2008
<http://chinesefood.about.com/>.
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