In addition， costs and interests play a role. This often results in that even if everyone has realized that “B cannot simultaneously be true with C”， at the end of the discussion when it comes to the matter of costs， everything is rolled up again and called into question.
But in this Chinese are again not so different from Germans or Americans： Where interests are concerned， and especially costs， facts or what I take as facts are often not that convincing any longer.
Other lessons were much easier to learn. I quickly learnt how to pay the bill at restaurants in China： You must argue with the others at the table about who is paying， finally give in generously and let someone else pay. If you want to pay for all or it is your turn to pay， anyway， you either must assert yourself or pay in secret at the cash back left when visiting the toilet， for it is not permissible under any circumstances always to have the others paying！ It must be compensated in the medium term！ And never anyone pays separately， where appropriate， all will combine their share to full money bills.
The restaurant owners will have many a laugh if a group of Germans or Americans wants to pay the bill： The poor waitress who does not understand any word of English， nor English with a hard German accent， is suddenly faced with a computing task – she is supposed to split the total amount (for four guests， say， altogether 152 RMB， or about 18 Euro) among four people， but not to equal shares but according to consumption： one guy drank no beer， another had two bottles， so in the end one will pay the equivalent of 6.53 ？， the second guy， 3.37 ？， the two others will generously share the rest， although they ate different amounts， this is fun.
But there are still some major issues I see absolutely no point in， in China， in Chinese business life and when eating：
How do the Chinese， especially the business people， manage that 50 % will already fall asleep on the plane when closing the doors at the snout of the gate， the remaining 49% of the passengers， though， latest at take-off， while I cannot close any eye during the whole flight， why that？ The same thing on the bus， on the bumpy highways： out of 60 passengers， 59 are asleep， just not me！
Who is eating all the duck meat that you do not get to eat in the restaurant when ordering “Peking Duck”？ With delight you eat the skin， removed from the body with veritable martial arts tactics， while the waiter disappears with what is in Western view the essential part of the duck！ Does the kitchen staff take all the ducks home to eat them selflessly and mobilising all capacity to suffer， because the meat is so much less valuable than the skin？ (Even the Chinese could not answer me this.)
Another unanswered question： What to do with 50 “moon cakes” (月饼) presented to you during the Moon Festival at the 15th day of the 8th lunar month， usually some time in September， Greg.？ I may perhaps eat one of these tasty， yet caloric thingies of 5 cm across and 3 cm in height but feeling like 2 kg of weight. This will mean a whole breakfast or dinner. But what shall I do about 50 of them？
Even more difficult： What do you do with 20 “zong zi” (粽子)， which is a glutinous rice with different ingredients， wrapped in bamboo leaves to a pyramidal shape and heated either in the microwave – that I do not have – or in hot water – which I am perfect in –； it tastes great， but replaces two meals， not just one， as in the case of the moon cake. This speciality is given to you， and maybe one or two loads are eaten as well， at the Dragon Boat Festival， Duan Wu Jie (端午节)， which takes place on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month， which is in June by our reckoning. According to legend， such pyramidal leaf-wrapped lumps of rice were thrown into the lake in which a poet was drowned， according to the narrator either because the poet will then not starve or because the fish will have something else to eat and do not devour the corpse of the poet.
Allegedly the Chinese pass on any moon cakes received by others， about zong zi， my investigations provided no reliable results.
Without question， the work in the Chinese industrial market is extremely stressful. Whenever I am spending two weeks in Germany， I perceive the work there as a kind of holiday (“only” twelve hours a day， much less on weekends， almost no travelling). But I always try to like the situation. What alternative do I have？ Forever to mutter， complain， despair？ No， even from the most stressful situations I will gain something because at least I can learn something. And if the problem is solved， I may consider it to be a success for us and for me.
I am able to perceive the journeys， lunches and dinners with customers as a broadening of my horizon which gives me great pleasure.
Sometimes， if rarely， very surprising and beautiful things happen at work. One morning I’m sitting at my desk in my apartment， scheduled to leave the house by 11 o’clock and to drive to the airport because I have to take a flight to ShangHai. I am working on a complicated report， a thunderstorm is raging outside， black clouds drift by， wind is howling.