<story><title>Guanxi</title><url>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guanxi</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>hyh1048576</author><text>As someone who was born and raised in China I just like to remind people that the real meaning of &amp;quot;guanxi&amp;quot; is a function of location and time. i.e. the real meaning of &amp;quot;guanxi&amp;quot; is different from 20 yrs ago to present, and the word has different meaning from small cities to big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, also it doesn&amp;#x27;t mean exactly the same thing from, say, southern China to north east China.&lt;p&gt;In general in big cities &amp;quot;guanxi&amp;quot; plays a smaller role, while in small cities especially the underdeveloped ones it plays a bigger role, to the extent that even doing some fairly trivial business (or even things like getting a passport or going to hospital) needs you to have some &amp;quot;guanxi&amp;quot;. By &amp;quot;needs one to have some &amp;#x27;guanxi&amp;#x27;&amp;quot; I mean it&amp;#x27;s not impossible for one to do without &amp;quot;guanxi&amp;quot; but it&amp;#x27;s just way smoother and faster if you know someone who can help. That&amp;#x27;s also one of the reasons people prefer to live in big cities. It&amp;#x27;s just more fair for young people without acquaintances in every possible field. On the other hand, parents are more familiar with &amp;quot;guanxi&amp;quot;.&lt;p&gt;The existence of &amp;quot;guanxi&amp;quot; also makes people doubt if they have failed to lubricate some &amp;quot;guanxi&amp;quot; if they got rejected or failed for something (e.g. U.S. visa, or a reasonable exam) even if there are other reasons more likely to cause it.&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;guanxi&amp;quot; sometimes even helps one to pass the test for driver&amp;#x27;s license, oh a big facepalm to road security...&lt;p&gt;(What I said above is not to confuse you guys, the wikipedia page is still worth reading though.)</text></comment>
<story><title>Guanxi</title><url>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guanxi</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>tantalor</author><text>&lt;i&gt;Don Corleone: We have known each other many years, but this is the first time you&amp;#x27;ve come to me for counsel or for help. I can&amp;#x27;t remember the last time you invited me to your house for a cup of coffee, even though my wife is godmother to your only child. But let&amp;#x27;s be frank here. You never wanted my friendship. And you feared to be in my debt.&lt;/i&gt;</text></comment>