Face or “mianzi” in China is one of the most important parts of Chinese culture. The concept of Face has many meanings, for example: losing face, saving face, giving face and gaining face. Foreigners living in China, as well as local people, experience this aspect in their everyday lives. But what is it exactly? Several of Hutong School students and one of our teachers were interviewed by CRIENGLISH.COM, the only overseas broadcaster in the People's Republic of China.
Luo Weijia, Chinese language and culture teacher at Hutong School, gives us an interesting insight on the idea of face from a local Chinese person point of view, she says that: “Face stands for reputation and position of a person. Also, I think it's very important in Chinese culture; it's kind of the second life of Chinese people."
Our Hutong School students say that for them, the concept of face is something that you need to pay close attention to in China, because it involves a totally different approach to how things are done here compared to other countries.
Fabrizio Fanciosi from Italy, says that: “China, it's really not the same. The rules are stricter, so you have to carefully follow basic Chinese traditions… it's possible to 'lose face' on your own entirely by accident.”
Michael Cain, from The United States, says that you can make someone lose face in places like restaurants or even at the workplace if you do not know China’s cultural norms or rules.
Read the full article here.
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