An American businessman named Daniel Cavanaugh travels to China in the hopes of scoring a contract for his family’s sign-making business. Ready to tackle the obvious struggles that can come from an American doing business in China (namely language barriers and culture shock), Daniel doesn’t realize that doing business in China is much more complex than he’d hoped. Daniel’s ‘consultant’, Peter, teaches him about Guanxi, the system of social networks and influential relationships that facilitate business in China, and the two of them get started trying to create a relationship with Minister Cai. However, Guanxi gets in Daniel’s way and he needs to find another way in...that’s when the Vice Minister Xi Yan steps in to save the day. Daniel forms a relationship with her and, as he follows her advice, he begins to fall in love. They learn to communicate in their own form of Chinglish, but so they learn that some things aren’t so easily translated.
Chinglish guide sections
