Damian Holmes

9. First in

Try to get your presentation on the first day or prior to lunch on any day – often people will organise lunches(long lunches) and business meetings after lunch at the conference to make the best of networking opportunities. Also many people will attend an event on the first day to be seen and then leave to attend to business.

10. Be a Polite Visitor

When you are giving a presentation in China unless you have been invited as an expert to give observations on what you think about China and its development it is best to keep observations to a minimum as you may come across as naive or reeking of colonialism.

11. Different Culture – Different Norms

The culture at conferences in China can be different from what you are use to and therefore what is acceptable at a conference differs also. Attendees will have their phones ringtones on and take calls during your presentation, they will also make conversation with other people and take photos of your presentation. These are just the norms in conferences in China. Be ready for it to happen and do not let it startle or distract you. If you are worried about IP in China with a new idea or concept then remove anything that you would be sensitive about.

12. Questions/Question Time

Most conferences in China do not have question time due to people preferring to ask questions in private, also asking a question of the audience  during a presentation will often go unanswered, so its best to leave it until afterwards after the presentation or during the meals.

13. Have hundreds of business cards

In China, handing out business cards is like second nature so get extras printed before you arrive in China or have more printed while you are here.

15. Off handed comments

A quick reminder to keep any off the cuff or joking comments/observations to yourself. Some people relax their manners after a couple of days in China as they are surrounded by non-English speaking people. Always remember just because you think they can’t understand what you are talking about doesn’t mean they can’t.

16. Have Fun

Presenting and meeting you people is fun. Enjoy the new experience and always try to take something away with you.

I just came back from Green Drinks in Shanghai and there was a mix of Chinese and Foreigners (about 30/70) and it was interesting to see the crowd. It has grow immensely since the first green drinks last year at URBN hotel when about 25 people jammed into a room. Tonight the presentations were from Brian Wang and Amanda Leung of FACE PLAN. Amanda is running an interesting project in her spare time taking Foreign Architects to regional universities and schools in China to give lectures about their work and run a small workshop or charette.

Each time I go, there are more Chinese and that often makes me feel good that young Chinese are interested and its an opportunity to connect, but I also wonder how many events held by Chinese green NPO that I don’t know about. Am I missing opportunities to connect about ideas and how China is going? I’ll have to look into how I be apart of these groups. Somehow I feel anxious that the next grassroots green/sustainability movement in China will happen and I won’t really know about until I read it a few articles in the English Daily paper or Blogs. I think that this feeling is also felt by some expats in China and surrounding countries.

I am looking into how I can be more involved with China’s move to a sustainable way of living. I currently run my own landscape architecture studio with sustainability as the core ideal. I have to think , learn and educate about how China can be more sustainable and green. Although, I have seen the focus in China shift from basic green ideals to more sophisticated ideas and practices but this is has occurred mainly on the east coast of China.

So can it happen? China has the people, the knowledge and the speed to do it, lets hope Copenhagen brings something more than just rhetoric and green washing and the green movement continues its groundswell in China.