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From "Friendships in China" in the guide:

“Many foreigners delude themselves into thinking that they will be immediately incorporated into this complex system of social networking by over-extending themselves to their Chinese friends and hosts, when called upon to do some favor (usually limited to something involving the English language). Keep in mind that true guanxi is more powerful and meaningful than money in China and it’s a form of currency that will never be squandered on someone who is viewed (quite accurately in most cases) as a transient worker”.

I am a 63 year old retired and widowed professor of finite mathematics. I have no children.

I travelled to China six years ago for a one-week visit and have been here ever since. I began working at a top-tier university teaching both math and English.

About three months after I started working, my FAO made a big deal of introducing me to the deputy mayor of our city. I was wined and dined and flattered excessively. Then the requests for favours started rolling in. Before I knew it, I was being sent more than 100 pages of barely intelligible English for “emergency” copyediting on a regular basis. There was never any mention of compensation. The English was so poor, each document took several hours to complete.

In exchange for all my efforts, I was invited to the Spring Festival celebration and seated at the main table, along with the governor of the province, the mayor, and my “friend” the deputy mayor himself. Shortly after this event, the free work increased to the point where I had to finally refuse it. It was interfering with my commitments to the university. The deputy mayor was insistent and warned “You know this is for the government!” I replied that I did understand this and so too was my university work also for the government.

About a year later, I had a small legal problem resulting from a car accident . So I thought I’d give my good friend, the deputy mayor, a call. I’ll give everyone three guesses what his reply was to my emergency. He listened and sympathised, and in the end informed me that there was nothing he could to do.

I wish this guide had been available six years ago. Reading it would have saved me a lot of grief. Of course I naturally assumed that if I ever needed some consideration from his Honour’s office, I would get it immediately. What a fool I was.

Thank you MKL for this guide. It is long, long, long overdue.

Robert