It would seem to me obvious that if we all learned Chinese then we would all get along a lot better with our employers. Instead of frosty glances and irritations, we might be able to ganbei it through to the end of our contacts, with grinning leaders patting us on our backs.

There's a much easier and more direct way to make the leaders happy and pat you on the back. First, DON'T learn Mandarin. It's not necessary. Better to be the smiling, gullible, stupid foreigner. Then they'll love you. Do any favors they ask you. Tutor their friends children. Go teach at their friend's private school on weekends for peanuts. Do extra work. Flatter them. Then they will love you.

Basically, they love a chump. Learning Mandarin will only help if you are a chump FIRST. If you are not a chump, learning Mandarin will make you more threatening. They don't care if you appreciate their culture or make the effort to learn the language. Usually they don't give a F___ about China. They care about themselves, and their bank accounts. Let them make some extra money off of you, well, lots of it, while you make some table scraps; let them get face from having you follow them around at their heals, and then they will love you.

But NEVER learn their own language and be independent and competent and a master of their culture. Holy crap is that a recipe for hatred and resentment.

Be a doormat. They love foreign doormats that only stutter in Mandarin.

OK, obviously I'm being a little hyperbolic, but, sadly, my hyperbole is frequently, shockingly, not as ridiculous as the reality in question.