Northeasterners are well known for their ebullience, sincerity and friendliness in business. In the Northeast (Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning) the following saying is popular: "If emotions are deep, finish the drink with one gulp; if emotions are shallow, only lick the glass." Perhaps taking the saying a bit too literally, northeastern men have been known to drink themselves under the table to show their sincerity. This generosity of spirit sometimes extends to the wallet. When northeasterners are in good a mood, they do not hesitate to shell out large sums of money, whether in business or service.

Northeasterners also have a reputation for a "tiger-like spirit" (dongbeihu), which predisposes many to feats of daring, such as swimming in sub-zero temperatures?and to short fuses. In a few unfortunate cases, business negotiations have degenerated into shouting matches, replete with curses and the occasional fistfight or worse. This short fuse may explain why northeasterners have a reputation for rarely spending much time bargaining over minute details in small business deals and may also explain their propensity for big and quick deals.

All the Chinese share a common trait, "ai mianzi" or "sensitivity to face." But native northeasterners may be more sensitive about mianzi than Chinese from other regions. Therefore, experienced businesspeople say that to do business with northeasterners requires a greater investment in emotions and attention to issues of face. Done well, such investment can bring excellent results.

Nevertheless, outsiders should be wary. Like the Cantonese, northeasterners are known for misleading outsiders. Chinese say that northeastern swindlers are known for their courage and skill in pulling off spectacular scams. One of the highest-profile Chinese business scandals in recent history was that of northeasterner Shen Taifu who, while he was the chair of the board and president of the Beijing Great Wall Machining and Electronic Co. in the late 1980s and early 1990s, cheated his company out of more than Y1 billion ($120.7 million). Shen was convicted of bribery and corruption and executed in 1994.

Source: This is an excerpt from an article originally published in the Sept-Oct, 2004 .issue of the China Business Review. Reprinted with the permission of The US-China Business Council, Washington D.C