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# When your China past comes back to you
- URL: https://www.silkroadintl.net/when-your-china-past-comes-back-to-you/
- Published: 2021-05-27T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T04:24:51.000Z
- Author: david dayton
- Tags: China, Business, Culture, #Import 2026-09-24 16:32

The past comes back to you?

Doesn’t happen that often, but so pleased to get this message today:

Prof Dayton, I took your developing business in China class at UVU. Loved the class. Gotta say: super cool to see your name all over this HB article! [https://harrisbricken.com/chinalawblog/china-factory-culture-and-negotiations-good-luck-with-that/](https://harrisbricken.com/chinalawblog/china-factory-culture-and-negotiations-good-luck-with-that/?ref=silkroadintl.net)

Dan, over at Harris Bricken, has been giving out GREAT legal advice in China for a couple of decades now. If you’re involved in China, you should be following him. Ironically, one of his most common bits nowadays is, “You want to go to China? Don’t!” Really. It’s that bad. Of course he qualifies his comment with suggestions for the chronically stubborn.

I fall into that stubborn/addicted category too. My work is still mostly in China and with Chinese companies and of course, as mentioned above, I teach the “Developing Business in China” course at UVU. One of the best parts of the class is the diversity that we get every semester. I usually have a Chinese student, a professional from the community actively working in China, and a number of business an students with other majors. The combination makes for some good discussions. Each semester we typically get the following comments: “Oh! That’s why they won’t reply to my emails,” and “I’m not sure I can talk about those things.” You can guess from whom each come.

As for working in China, I’m waiting to a couple of things to develop before I can head back. The first is the approval of foreign vaccines and tests for travelers. While some of the US vaccines are approved, there are still tests and quarantines required either by Chinese approved organizations (usually only available in large US cities) or only in China.

And also, a clarification of the visa rules and options. Since all prior visas were cancelled everyone now has to reapply/pay and meet all the health standards that now accompany visa paperwork. (Good summary article here: [https://www.arabnews.com/node/1689956/business-economy)](https://www.arabnews.com/node/1689956/business-economy%29?ref=silkroadintl.net) The US State department just says, “Reconsider travel to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) due to arbitrary enforcement of local laws.” Unless you’ve got two extra weeks on either end of your trip to deal with randomness, you should be waiting to go. I’d love to hear from anyone that has traveled there in the last couple of months.

Back to UVU the class this next semester will focus on developing business opportunities in China under the assumption that life will return to normal sooner than later. But I’m adding in a couple speakers from companies that are currently working exclusively online with Chinese suppliers/partners. The class is about “boots on the ground.” We include conversations with executives from SMEs and MNCs discussing “what it’s really like” to work in China. We even have a team presentation/paper that required students to walk through the actual steps to set up a new company or assist in the move/expansion of a current company. Everything from visas to guanxi, licensing to logistics, HR to corruption.

The core of the course, and my personal consulting work with SRI, is the concept that there are solutions to cultural conflicts in international work. One of my interlocutors in my last research trip (oh my, that was 2019!!) said to me, “Of course we take advantage of you! Your faces tell us so much it’s almost \[emotionally\] overwhelming!” \*V