Cultural Acclimation
People who belong to an existing group or community share common values, customs, beliefs, and behavioral norms. The shared commonalities make up the culture of the community. Due to the diversity and variance of culture among communities all over the world, people tend to have different opinions, modes of dressing, communication, and ways of presentations when interacting with other people or conducting business. Thanks to globalization, people can travel anywhere around the globe and have an opportunity to interact with other people from different communities and learn new cultures as well. Business, education, and tourism, among other reasons, have caused people to travel for miles across borders to foreign countries where, in most cases, things are done so differently from their original places. As much as it is exciting to learn new cultures and languages, the cultural differences pose enough challenges resulting into rise of several cultural issues. The following is a brief discussion of three examples of cultural issues that most foreigners do not know with regards to the Chinese culture.
Cultural Acclimation
Most people who visit a new place are most likely to experience a culture shock because they have to adjust and adapt to a new, unfamiliar culture. The more the cultural differences, the harder it is to change. For international students who go to study in China, for instance, it is difficult for most of them to adapt because the Chinese culture varies significantly from other cultures starting from the food, language, mode of dressing, ways of presenting themselves and religion. As a result, they suffer from culture stress. The differences between the Western and Eastern culture has contributed to the failure of most business people, especially the Westerners trying to venture into the manufacturing sector in China. Chinese encourage collectivism instead of the individualism, which is widely practiced by the Westerners a good example being the Americans. While the Chinese government has set up policies that discourage discrimination and promote cultural assimilation, the locals feel that the survival of their culture is being threatened.
Social Conflict
According to some sociologists, cultural differences cause cultural conflict, which in turn leads to social conflict. Conflicts may occur due to intercultural misunderstandings between people from different ethnic groups or nationalities and misinterpretation or miscommunication of information. They can also arise when foreigners ignore or are insensitive to the indigenous cultural practices of their new location if the visitors are not aware of certain practices which are different from what they do. People feel undermined when their cultural values and traditions are misinterpreted or disrespected. Ethnocentrism can easily lead to cultural and social conflicts as well. In China seniors are treated differently and with so much respect. A Chinese family would prefer to stay as one large extended family including the elderly members of the family all under one roof. In addition to that, they honor the dead in their own ways. Their practices should be respected especially by those whose cultural practices are not similar to those of the Chinese to avoid conflicts.
Cross-Cultural Communication
Communication is very essential and with cultural differences again it can be very difficult. Intercultural communications involve people with different cultural background. Also it entails verbal and non- verbal means of passing information. Therefore, it is not just speaking words in a language that can or cannot be understood but also ways of exchanging ideas, showing emotions and sharing of information by use of body language. As mentioned earlier, miscommunication and misinterpretation can lead to conflicts. In China, language is a sophisticated issue. The Chinese cannot easily speak in English and the Chinese language is in various dialects which most foreigners cannot understand easily. The Chinese are used to lack of or just having a minimal personal space due to the large population and avoid confrontation. People from other communities especially the Westerners appreciate having a personal space and are more direct in their conversations which make them seem rude according to the Chinese.