Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider
- I spent a year traveling across 20 countries as Business Insider’s international correspondent.
- I spent the first three months of the trip in Asia, visiting China, Korea, Singapore, and Indonesia. I previously visited Japan while helping launch Business Insider Japan in 2017.
- While each country had its own distinct culture and customs, I experienced many culture clashes while visiting Asia.
- Some of the mistakes I made included not carrying business cards when meeting business acquaintances and trying to hug friends hello or goodbye.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
I spent the first three months of a year-long trip as Business Insider’s international correspondent exploring various parts of Asia.
While you are likely to have some cultural mixups as an American visiting European countries, it’s nothing compared to Asia, where the proper etiquette or behavior often seems to be the complete opposite of what it is in America.
That being said, there are over 40 countries in Asia, and while there are commonalities among them, each has a very distinct culture.
For example, direct eye contact in America conveys confidence. In China and some other countries, it conveys confrontation. In America, tipping is customary to reward good service. In Japan, it is seen as an insult to the work ethic of the person you are tipping.
As I traveled the world over the last year, I spent three months in Asia, specifically in China, Korea, Singapore, and Indonesia. During that time, I experienced countless culture clashes, miscommunications, and misunderstandings.
Here are just a few.
1. In Japan, China, and Korea, you need to carry business cards because you exchange cards whenever you meet a new acquaintance.
Igor Emmerich / Getty Images
Whenever Japanese people meet for the first time, particularly in a business setting, they present business cards in a custom known as meishi koukan (名刺交換).
The meishi koukan is considered to be a formal introduction to the person. No business can begin until cards are exchanged because the exchange itself indicates the beginning of a relationship.
Read more: I forgot one thing on my trip to Japan — and now I have to apologize to every person I meet
When I traveled to Tokyo to help Business Insider launch its latest international edition in 2017, I failed to bring business cards and had to awkwardly explain the situation to every person I met.
As the custom exists to some degree in China and Korea, I did not make the same mistake when I visited last year.
2. Using Uber, Grab, or other ride-hailing services is a very big faux-pas in Bali.
Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider
In Bali, ride-sharing apps like Uber and its Southeast Asian counterparts Grab and Go-Jek were once tourists’ first choice to get around the island.
But taxi drivers have said ride-hailing services violate Bali’s unwritten traditional laws and profit off their communities, while not giving back. Taxi fares in Bali are double ride-hailing services, but over 30% of their income goes to the community to build roads and pay for services the government won’t provide.
Many tourists use ride-hailing apps anyways, but local Balinese in certain areas will ask you to refrain.
When I first arrived on the island, I scoffed at the idea of not using Uber or Grab due to a "taxi mafia." By the time I left, I was sympathetic to how technology has completely disrupted Bali’s way of life.
3. Few people in major cities in China still use cash in their day-to-day life — and some places don’t even accept it.
Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider
Paying with your phone isn’t a novelty in China these days. Paying with cash is.
Tencent and Alibaba’s competing mobile payment apps — WeChat Pay and AliPay, respectively — are used by just about everyone in China, from fancy restaurants and high-end designer boutiques down to street vendors, taxi drivers, and even panhandlers.
Ninety-two percent of people in China’s top cities said that they use WeChat Pay or AliPay as their primary payment method, according to a 2017 study by Penguin Intelligence.
Read more: One photo shows that China is already in a cashless future
As foreigners can’t use AliPay or WeChat Pay — you need a Chinese bank account to sign up — I had numerous issues paying for things in China’s big cities.
One coffee shop in Beijing didn’t even have a register, only a QR-code scanner. When I tried to hand the barista cash, he looked at me, confused: All they accepted was mobile payment. I had to leave and go to a different cafe.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- The top 15 cities with the most billionaires, ranked
- A new cruise with $175,000 ocean-view suites will begin voyages to all seven continents in 2021 — here’s an inside look at the luxury ship
- 15 things I learned about hotels and Airbnbs after traveling the world for a year
Source: Business Insider – hjacobs@businessinsider.com (Harrison Jacobs)