The Chinese word for tea is “cha” and cha is very popular in China for many reasons, it comes in many different flavors. Some of my young college female students have told me that drinking one type of cha can help them lose weight and another type of cha will help their complexion. Some of my older friends tell me that other types of cha can cure many health problems a person could have, but to me, the cup of cha you see below represents relationships!
In China the culture is built around relationships, so to do a business deal, you must first build a relationship. I can imagine that many contracts have been lost by foreign companies wanting to do business, because they made a request for a business deal the first time they met someone.
Relationships are extremely important in the Chinese culture, and it takes time to develop them. I am very thankful for the friendship Global Partners in Life has developed with the leader and the children at the special needs orphanage we support in China. It has grown over the last 10 years, and I feel very fortunate that the leader has allowed us to assist her and the children. She has had many battles with the government, so she must be cautious with her relationships, because she wants to protect the children living with her.
The last 13 years China has had an explosion of growth in their economy. Yes, it has slowed recently, but they had 10 plus years of double digit growth, which is unequaled in modern history. All of this success and wealth has made many people want the same success, and they want it right away. Many young people graduate from college and they don’t have life skills, like cooking for themselves, so they are very troubled by that. If you combine the desire for instant success and not achieving it along with a lack of experience in taking care of themselves, many people in China consider suicide as an option. Unfortunately, over the last few years 5 of my Chinese friends have considered suicide, and 3 of them told me about this over a cup of tea. So, having a cup of tea with someone is truly a time of bonding and sharing your innermost thoughts. I am extremely thankful to report to you that none of my friends that considered suicide followed through with their thoughts. Maybe it was because we had a chat with a cup of tea.