Traditions!

because of the great firewall of china, i was unable to blog during recent trip. couldn't access twitter or utube. so i make notes to post later! i'll try and start catching up, especially now that i'm back on local time!!


traditions are hard to understand for an outsider! the Chinese tradition of letting guests sit at the table facing the door is one! at a round table, there is no head! we had lunch at the shop in a small dining room off of the main dining room R, D, myself and 5 other senior managers that we have been working with. it's a round table with a lazy susan center where everything gets placed and passed around!
i stood by a seat off to the side while we were all getting settled. oh no, that would not do! D and i were whisked around to the other side of the table where we sat "facing" the door to the room!
The Rest of the Story:
reason being 5,000 years of palace intrigue, you wouldn't let the guest of honor sit with his back facing the door so he didn't have to worry about who entered behind him! cool

This happened in every restaurant that we ate in that didn't have a regular booth!