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Posts: 20

Governor

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Q: How do Chinese not go bankrupt having to buy so many gifts for everyone?

It's built in the culture: Chinese have to buy gifts all the time...for literally everyone. Uncles, aunts, cousins, parents, bosses, friends (this is a big one), guanxi, etc. the list goes on and on.

 

Gift-giving is so important in the culture here, it just begs the question: how do people do it? Considering their wages, how do they manage to get by? Because on top of having to offer gifts to everyone all the time, there's this twisted, illogical need to have something that's at least as good as what others are giving, otherwise you lose face.

12 years 20 weeks ago in  Culture - China

 
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Emperor

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You are forgetting a few things :

1.- you hand out gifts in even numbers, never odd numbers.  So, because of this, you do not offer or give ONE gift, but at least two !.

2.- the concept of family in China.  In a household it will be normal to find grandparents, parents and married children sharing the same apartment.  Like sardines in a can !.  But they do not only share the place to live,k they share (or pool) together salaries and expenses too.  So, you see one fellow making 1,000 Rmb per month, but you do not see his wife working, his parents working, his grandparents collecting retirement, etc.  So, it is no longer 1,000 Rmb per month, could be as much as 6 or 7,000 Rmb per month.

3.-  Gifts in China is not only done for face or guangxi.  In a way, it is also a form of bribery, or an investment "in the future". 

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12 years 20 weeks ago
 
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Emperor

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Re-gifting!

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12 years 20 weeks ago
 
Posts: 1153

Shifu

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ALSO MOST HOUSES AND CARS ARE PAID FOR IN CASH THWY ARE NOT FINANCED

nevermind:

Cars maybe. But most houses are financed. 

12 years 20 weeks ago
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12 years 20 weeks ago
 
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General

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There are numbers of the online gift shopes, where you can get what you want.  silberleuchter

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12 years 3 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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They use credit cards?!!!!..............They borrow money for that?!!!!...................They get bankkrupt but they don't tell anyone?!!!!!..........serious you have too man options to pick from

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12 years 3 weeks ago
 
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Excellent question. I too have pondered this many times. Houses, cars, gifts...how do they do it????

 

Answer IMO: (They live simple, boring lives but they seem to accumulate lots of "stuff")

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12 years 3 weeks ago
 
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Chinese save and average of 38% of their income, like we Mericans use dto do in the 1950s!  Credit cards was our Frankenstein.

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12 years 2 weeks ago
 
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Answer of the DayMORE >>
A: No, it's not allowed to work under RP at 2nd job! I'd say, Z visa
A:No, it's not allowed to work under RP at 2nd job! I'd say, Z visa/RP sponsor can have an objections to your part-time job. I did the same at my English teaching in China and elsewhere, butT ... I casually mentioned at my prime job, some kindergarten or another school asked me to work with them part-time. Then, my Q: "Is that permitted?" ...  Answer from RP sponsor was always "Yes, but you can't be late or miss the classes at our school ..." with my reply: "No, our work schedule has a priority, and I'll arrange classes at kindergarten only in my free time." When I cleared that, I was undertaking any extra teaching hours at other schools and private students in my free time.Sometimes, teachers at my prime job asked me if I'm willing to have some extra classes elsewhere.I accepted after the talk with School's principal. I suggest, you test the felling at your Z/RP sponsor and once you see they don't object, you can work at 2nd job. Keeping your 2nd job as a secret from your employer won't work, 'cause you're laowai and Chinese know exactly what you do in your free time. However, despite your employer's agreement for extra work, you are still in violation of Chinese Labour law, and even if your sponsor agrees to your extra work, you can still get in trouble, because it's clearly written (somewhere ... ) that under Z/WP, one can work only at the Z-sponsor and nowhere else. Penalties ... I'd say, there won't be any warnings and you'll be required to exit China in short Exit time.It never happened to me, so I can't really advice how is when manure hits the fan ...  -- icnif77