Not true at all. Give them an inch and they’ll take a yard. Also, accepting ‘accepting and understanding Chinese culture’, does not equal kissing someones backside or being submissive, even if some farmers out there have a ‘meiyou banfa’ complex, question is, are you a farmer too? . You don’t have to sit back and admire, just understand the rules and play by them and in true Chinese style, deceive people with them (usually those that would otherwise deceive you).

Also, being that rude, arrogant and direct westerner can be a good thing sometimes! Chinese people find that difficult to handle.Besides, if you ever watch dissatisfied Chinese customers in a store... Are they polite? NO. They make a huge scene, they are loud, expressive and deliberately make sure that the other party loses face and faces the prospect of losing even more face. The offending party will often take face saving measures. Angry Chinese people do this even better than the most arrogant of self-entitled Westerners. Sometimes, you’ve got to yell, show muscle with guanxi connections if you have any too.

A friend recently did this when a training centre didn’t pay him. Making sure that parents and students in the centre hear the threats towards the bosses was not look a good look for the centre. He got all of his money, rather quickly indeed.