作    者：龚如仲（美国）

海外头条总编审   王 在 军   （中国）

海外头条副编审 Wendy温迪（英国）

海 外 头 条总 编   火 凤  凰  （海外）

图片选自百度

出国小组趣事

文/龚如仲（美国）

随着中国对外贸易的迅猛发展，派往世界各地进行商贸活动的贸易小组日益增多。而发生在众多出国小组中间的故事自然也是层出不穷，有很多有趣的故事让我至今难忘

。

（一）“当汤”到底是啥意思？

有一天，与我同在轻工总公司共事的老朋友郑处长突然问我：“‘当汤’到底是啥意思”？我按英文词意“城市的商业区”或“市中心”对他解释了。可是听完我的解释后，他说依然“有点胡涂”。于是，他便对我叙述了前不久他在国外访问时所遇到的难忘经历。

郑处长带了一个贸易小组先后访问了英格兰和美利坚。

到达伦敦后，小组打算拜访一位重要客户。为了省点费用，小组中一名会开车的成员就向他居住在伦敦的亲戚借了辆车。于是，小组一行四人就在郑处长带领下开车前往客户的公司。由于这家公司在离伦敦较远的另一个城市，而郑处长等四人都是首次访英，所以他们只得一边开车、一边问路。当快到这个城市时，他们就询问路旁加油站上的英国人。那位英国人对他们说：“这个公司在当汤，不难找到”。懂点英文的郑处长一听，当即就武断地对开车的小伙子说：：“当汤的意思就是沿着城市往下走。咱们肯定能找到这个地方”。

要知道英文字当汤（DOWNTOWN）是由两个词语组成的，前一个“DOWN”是往下的意思，而后面的“TOWN”是城镇之意，所以郑处长认为的“往城下走”也是因词择意，而“当汤”的确切含义他并没有弄懂。那时侯外贸工作者的英语水平普遍不高，即便小组里有人对郑处长的理解心存怀疑，但考虑到郑处长是总公司的领导，他们也不便提出异议。

于是小伙子就一路把车开出了城。可是到了郊外，他们根本无法找到这家公司的所在地。后来又问了一位路人，郑处长这才明白原来“当汤就是﹁市中心”的意思。车子开回市中心后，小组这才最后找到了那家公司。

访问完英国后，小组就来到了美国纽约。

这一回又得先见一家大客户，可巧的是这家大公司也在“当汤”。而更巧的是，另一位小组成员在纽约唐人街也找到了一位亲戚。于是他们就请这位华侨先生当司机，开车把他们送到纽约的市中心。可是到了市中心后怎么也找不到这家位于“当汤”的公司。司机见状忙问郑处长有无客户的名片？郑处长马上找出名片递了过去。司机一看名片马上就明白了，说：“这个公司在纽约下城的布鲁克林”。郑处长一听又胡涂了：“难道当汤到了美国又变了”？司机解释道：“纽约的市中心是曼哈顿，也叫‘米德汤’{MIDTOWN}，中城的意思。而纽约的‘当汤’（DOWNTOWN）是下城，就是布鲁克林”。这一回，无论司机如何解释，郑处长感到他依然如堕云雾之中。所以他回到北京后才问我“当汤”到底是啥意思。

（二）鲜花哪有烧鸡好？

上海畜产品进出口公司的小裘有一回在我面前嘟囔，说“美国人不懂中国人的心，花了钱也不讨人欢喜”。我一听大为诧异，忙问这到底是怎么一回事？小裘告诉我说，前一阵子他随科长老王到美国访问位于新泽西州的西港公司，公司大老板富劳伦先生亲自到机场迎接。为了表示真诚和友谊，他还专门给贸易小组每位成员都献上了一大束鲜花。可小裘和他的伙伴们收到鲜花后心里并不是很高兴，因为在他们看来，送一束鲜花还不如给每人来个烧鸡。为什么呢？其实道理很简单：当时贸易小组出国访问实行的是承包制，国家按规定给予的出国费用由小组自行支配，不再专款专用。倘若小裘等人那天每人都有一只香喷喷的烧鸡，他们既可享用一顿美味的晚餐，还可把该用在晚饭上的银子纳入自己的腰包。由此可见，一只烧鸡远比一束鲜花来得实惠。

听完小裘的一番话，我不由得大笑不已，我赶紧对小裘说道：“放心，下回你们再访美，由我们公司接待，到那时我保证每人一只大烧鹅”！

（三）黄金海岸上的“怪客”

有一回，我带着三个分公司的科长访问澳大利亚，出访的目的是开拓一项新业务。当时我们主要访问的城市是布里斯班，离澳大利亚休闲圣地黄金海岸不远。工作完毕后的第二天正好是星期六，所以我们就决定到黄金海岸一游。

众所周知，黄金海岸是闻名世界的海滩美景。既然是去海滩游玩，我觉得大家就应该“上套恤衫、下穿牛仔裤”，以一身休闲装出行。然而来自广东的周科长却坚决反对我的建议。他义正词严地对大家说道：“我们是国家派出的贸易小组，是中国人的代表，在国外就必须时时注意仪表、事事严肃认真”。最后他提议，去海滩时每人都要“西装领带、一丝不苟”。

鉴于我当时刚当副处长不久，资格尚浅，而老周是一位老革命出身的老科长，德高望重。我权衡再三，不想让周科长难堪，于是就勉强接受了他的馊主意。

于是第二天上午，在那片碧海蓝天、风景如画的著名海滩上出现了一番奇特的景象：四个西装笔挺、皮鞋贼亮、手提公文箱的中国“怪客”，穿梭于满是泳衣泳裤的红男绿女中，引起的是阵阵嬉笑，迎来的是怪怪眼光。我一见情况不妙，连忙告诉大家“赶紧掉头，快速逃跑”！就因为这样，我那次失去了仔细观赏黄金海岸迷人风光的大好良机，真是可惜！

（四）您说英语吗？

还有一回，我带了个小组访问法国，小组成员里有个来自外贸部的小伙子，叫小齐。我们一行五人到达巴黎后，接待我们的法国老朋友杜亦杜先生告诉我们：“法国人不爱讲英语，即使他们会说英语也轻易不说”。接着，他一边给我们每人发了一张硬纸小卡片（卡片上有用法文写的我们下榻酒店的地址和电话号码），一边叮嘱我们道：“一旦迷了路，出租车司机一看卡片便可把你们安全地送回酒店”。

由于我们刚到法国，需要到银行换点法郎现金（那时候欧盟尚未问世，法国的货币是法郎），于是我想请杜亦杜先生派个雇员陪我们到就近银行办理此事。正当我打算这样做时，部里来的小齐对我说道：“不用叫法国人帮忙，虽然我学的是英语，但我的第二外语是法文”。我一听大喜，于是我们五个人步行到了邻街的一家银行。

进入银行后，小齐径直走向一个营业窗口，然后用法文叽里咕噜地对着窗口的一位法国小姐说了一通，意思是“我们想用旅行支票兑换点法郎现金”。想不到那位漂亮的法国小姐竟然毫无反应。小齐一见此况，不由得着急了，立即又叽里咕噜地对着小姐讲了一通。然而小姐依然静静地看着小齐，一言不发。又过了一会，小姐突然对小齐说道：“DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH（您说英语吗）？这一问，弄得小齐面红而赤，同时也让我们几个人啼笑皆非。唉，好一个“会说法语”的小齐同志啊！

（五）“这儿的面包真的很好吃”！

我在美国康州斯坦福市工作时，常常接待来自中国造纸业的贸易小组，因为那些造纸厂是通过我所主管的公司向美国采购纸浆和纸张的。有一回，来自江西造纸厂的厂长和他的两个助手到了美国，我自然热情相待。要知道江西造纸厂是个国营大企业，每年都通过我公司采购大量产品，这位大厂长当然是我的重要衣食父母，对他们的接待自然是最高级别的。当天晚上，我在斯坦福市最好的一家西餐厅宴请他们，点的当然是纽约式牛排、波士顿龙虾、阿拉斯加三文鱼和新英格兰海鲜汤。酒足饭饱之后，我出于礼节，客气地问他们这顿饭吃得如何？还算满意否？想不到这位江西造纸厂的大厂长对我说道：“这儿的面包真的很好吃”。

送走江西小组不久，我又迎来了来自湖北的一个“高级”贸易代表团。说是“高级”，是因为七个成员中最低级别的也是一位副处长。由于他们中午才到，行程又匆匆，我就决定在附近的一家汉堡王快餐店（BURGER KING）先让他们凑合一餐。惟恐怠慢了贵客，我还特意为他们每个人都要了双份牛肉的汉堡包。

这七位涵养极好的中国官员当时也没有提出任何问题，他们坐下来后便闷头吃汉堡，低头喝饮料。当大家吃完饭准备离开时，我无意中看了一下桌子，不由得大吃一惊，因为桌子上堆放着那十四个牛肉饼。原来这七位仁兄只把炸薯条和面包皮吃了个精光，而那最美味的牛肉饼却被扔在一旁。我不由得在心中感叹，又一次领略到大多数中国人只爱中餐、不吃西餐的“民族情结”。

（此文选自拙作【岁月如重---兼谈华国锋】之第五章“从商之路”）

Chapter 20

Anecdotes of the Chinese Trading Groups Abroad

Posted by Ralph Gong

With the rapid development of the Chinese foreign trade, more and more Chinese trade groups or delegations were sent to the foreign countries for business negotiations and contracts. Therefore a lot of interesting stories about what those Chinese visitors did and how they behaved came into being. Some of the stories are not only interesting, but also unforgettable. cheerfully, I’d like to share with you the following stories:

 What Does the English Word of ‘Downtown’ Mean?

One day, Mr. Zheng, the Finance Division Chief, who was working together with me at the company called “Chinalight”, came to my office and asked me a question of what was the real meaning of the English word of “downtown”? Since Mr. Zheng knew that my English was quite good and he took me as a good friend, he just wanted to come to me for a correct answer. I gave him a standard explanation by saying that downtown meant a place or an area in the city center or the CBD (City Business District). But Mr. Zheng did not seem to be satisfied. He said to me he was still very confused after listening to my explanation. Out of my curiosity, I asked him why, did anything happen to him. He then told me what he experienced in his recent trips to London and New York.

Mr. Zheng was the head of a trade group that was scheduled to visit the Great Britain and the United States of America. The trade group first reached London and was ready to visit one big customer there. In order to work with a fixed budget, Mr. Zheng asked one of his group members to borrow a car from his relative who was living in London.

The young man got the car. The 4-member trade group left their hotel for the place where that big client’s company was located. The client’s company was not in London, and it was situated in a small city very close to this metropolitan city. You must understand that it was the first time for those four people to visit London, and none of them was familiar with the city map and direction. The young driver had to stop from time to time and asked the pedestrians who were walking by on how to get to the destination.

After a couple of hours of driving, they reached the suburbs of that small city. In order to know the correct direction on how to get to the client’s place, the driver purposefully stopped at a gas station on the roadside, stepped out from the car and asked a gas-station attendant about the route. After reading the business card given to him by the young driver, the attendant said to him: “Oh, it is in the downtown of this city. You won’t miss it”.

Upon hearing the English word of “downtown”, Mr. Zheng, who had very little knowledge of English, opinionatedly assumed that downtown must mean “going down from the city center to the other side”. So he instructed the driver: “Go straight down through the city, and we will find the place!” The English word of downtown is composed of two words of “down” and “town”. The word of “down”meansdescending, or going from higher place to a lower place. And the word of “town” means a busy place with a lot of people and buildings. In English, the word of downtown means city center or town center unless otherwise is defined. But the misinterpretation towards the basic meanings of those two words led Mr. Zheng to the wrong decision. He insisted on letting the driver go further down after they got to the city center.

For your information, in China’s 1980s, the Chinese foreign trade people were not very good at English. Mr. Zheng and his trade group members did not grasp the exact meaning of the word of downtown. Even though one or two members got doubted about what Mr. Zheng had instructed, they did not dare to question what Mr. Zheng remarked only because in their eyes, Mr. Zheng was a high-ranking official from the Head Office. Following Mr. Zheng’sdecision, the driver just drove the car straightforward from the gas-station down to the other side of this small city (they passed the city center). After they got to the other side of the city, they could not find this company’s location. The driver had to stop the car and asked a pedestrian who was walking on the street. The pedestrian read the business card and told the driver that they had just passed this place because the company was right in the city center. Mr. Zhengand his trade group people had no other choice but followed the pedestrian’s direction-pointing, driving the car back to the city where they finally arrived at the company.

After visiting England, the trade group headed by Mr. Zheng went to New York, America for the next business trip. Again, they must go to see a big customer. They firstly checked this company’s address. After reading this company’s address which was shown on the business card, Mr. Zheng was quite sure that the company must also be situated in the downtown area of New York. The coincidence was that one of the trade group members had a relative abroad, and this relative was in New York. As per the experience they accumulated in their London trip, Mr. Zheng let this member borrow a car from his relative. By doing so, they could also save some travel expenses. The car borrowed, the young man who drove in London again became a temporary driver (he was the only one who had a driver’s license).

Before they left the hotel for the company, Mr. Zhengand his members checked the company’s address carefully for the purpose of getting there correctly. After reading the business card, both Mr. Zheng and the young driver were all quite sure that this company was in downtown. So they started to drive to downtown, the city center. But the strange thing was that no matter how hard they tried to find this company in the city center, they just failed. Finally, the driver was forced to park his car at a street corner and stopped a pedestrian for the direction. After reading the business card, the pedestrian, a middle-aged white man, told Mr. Zheng and the driver that this company was located in Brooklyn, downtown of New York City. Upon hearing what the pedestrian said, Mr. Zheng was very confused and said that since it was in downtown of New York, why they could not find it? The pedestrian smiled and explained to him that in New York, downtown area was referred to Brooklyn, and the place they were staying now was New York’s midtown, Manhattan. And Queens area of New York was called uptown.

With this pedestrian’s help, they drove to Brooklyn, downtown of New York and found the company. But Mr. Zheng was again feeling very confused. He could not understand why New York’s downtown was different from the downtown in London. I guess that probably Mr. Zheng is still feeling confused about the concept.

 Roasted Ducks Are Much Better Than Fresh Flowers!

Mr. Qiu，a young salesman from Shanghai Animal By-Products Imp. & Exp. Corp., came to my office one day during his USA visit, telling me that he did not think Americans could understand what the Chinese liked in terms of gifts presenting. He went on to say that even though the Americans spent money on purchasing “good gifts” for the Chinese visitors, yet what they did was not pleasing at all. After hearing what Mr. Qiu said, I felt very surprised. And then I asked him why he should have said so.

Mr. Qiu told me that a few months ago, he accompanied his Section Chief, Mr. Wang, on a business trip to the USA. As soon as they arrived at Newark International Airport, New Jersey, USA, Mr. Richard Florin, President of the well-known leather accessories company of Westport Corp., which was situated in New Jersey, gave them a warm welcome at the airport. Mr. Florin presented each of them a bunch of flowers. According to the Westerners’ habit, to present guests with fresh and beautiful flowers is a sign of respect and friendship. Mr. Florin showed with that gesture his sincere welcome to the Chinese trade group members who came from Shanghai. But neither Mr. Wang nor Mr. Qiu felt excited or happy after accepting the flowers because in their eyes, flowers were not as good as roasted ducks.

The reason was obvious that in the time when Mr. Qiu and his Section Chief visited USA, the Chinese Trade Groups’ overseas visiting must follow a system of “Contract Responsibilities”, which was stipulated by the Chinese government department concerned. That was to say that in addition to the round-trip international air tickets, each trade group was allowed to spend the regulated and limited amount of money on the travel expenses of hotel lodging, food expenditure, local traffic needs (such as taxi, bus, boat and train and so on and so forth) and pocket money. It would be up to the trade group members to decide on how to use the money. For example, if the trade group members wanted to save money on food, they could go and buy fast and simple food for their three meals. In this case, McDonalds’, KFC or Burger King would be their best choice. If they did not like the junk food and insisted on the Chinese taste, they could go to a Chinese restaurant for the simple meal of noodles. By so doing, they could save some food money for their own. And the saved money could be used for buying small gifts to bring back to China for their relatives or friends. If Mr. Florin did not buy a bunch of flowers for Mr. Qiu as a decent gift, but rather “smartly” changed his mind to buy a piece of roasted duck, that would be beneficial to Mr. Qiu. Firstly, Mr. Qiu could enjoy a really delicious food for dinner; Secondly, he could put the saved supper money into his own pocket. As far as Mr. Qiu was concerned, he felt that flowers were not as valuable or important as roasted ducks.

After I listened to what Mr. Qiu explained, I could not help laughing. I said to Mr. Qiu earnestly: “Yes, my company will prepare a piece of big and delicious roasted duck for each of you when you guys visit USAagain next time”!

 ‘Strange Visitors’ at Australia’s Gold Coast

One time, I took a big trade group, the members of which came from three different provincial branch companies, to visit Australia. The purpose of our visiting was to develop one important new business collaboration with an influential Australian company. And this company was located in the city of Brisbane, the third largest city in Australia

After the business negotiations were over and a desirable agreement was reached, we all wanted to get relaxed for a while and enjoy a good time in Brisbane. It was known to all that Australia’s Gold Coast in Brisbane area was a very famous beach resort, as well as an ocean-view scenic spot. Therefore we decided to go to Gold Coast the following day, Saturday.

It was common knowledge that to go to a beach resort was a casual and non-formal activity. Since it was summer time and I suggested to all the trade group members at the meeting that we, the visitors, should wear T-shirts, pairs of shorts and casual shoes for such a visit. But Mr. Zhou, one of the group members, as well as a Section Chief of Guangdong Light Industrial Products Imp. & Exp. Corp., unexpectedly stood up and said that he was against what I proposed. Influenced by the “ultra-leftists’ thinking” at that time, Mr. Zhou remarked in an authoritative way: “Since we are representing the Chinese government-related companies for such an official Australian visit, we must protect the Chinese people’s dignity and image. Our formal appearance must be placed on the first place!” He strongly suggested to me: “All of us must be in coats and ties tomorrow when we have the beach tour”.

To be honest with you, at that time, I had been just promoted from an ordinary staff member to the Division’s Deputy Chief. My qualifications and experiences were still insufficient in comparison with Mr. Zhou’s, who was not only a “veteran revolutionary” who was much older than me, but also a senior Section Chief who was with a lofty virtue worthy of respect. I understood that this “veteran revolutionary” would be embarrassed if I should reject what he had suggested. In the mean time, I said to myself: “To go to Gold Coast for a casual trip is no big deal, and it is not necessary to be so serious towards this matter”. And therefore I was forced to decide to follow Mr. Zhou’s “big idea”.

The following day was a sunny and warm Saturday. The sky was blue and the ocean was gigantic. On the famous picturesque beach of Gold Coast, a peculiar and striking scene was appearing: Six Chinese gentlemen, who were wearing formal suits, expensive ties and shining leather shoes and carrying brief cases, were strolling on the beach. Around six of us were a lot of men and women who were just in casual dressing or even in swimming suits. We, the six Chinese visitors, looked very strange and “special” when we were among the crowded people. And as a matter of fact, our arrival had aroused pears of laughter from other tourists, and they even looked at us in a weird way.

Facing such an awkward situation, I felt both ashamed and shocked. Without any hesitation, I immediately ordered my people: “Turn back and leave off the beach. Go back to our hotel!”

Thus, I lost a good opportunity of enjoying the enchanting scenery of Australia’s Gold Coast. What a pity!

 “Do You Speak English”?

One other time, I took a 5-member trade group to visit France. One of the members came from the Ministry of Foreign Trade, and his last name was Qi. Since he was young and small, we all called him “Xiao Qi”(meaning “Little Qi”). The main aim of our French trip was to sign an Exclusive Sales Agreement with a big French company. And the company’s owner was Mr. Dubois, a kind and friendly old gentleman, as well as our long time business counter-part in Paris, France.

The next day morning, we went to Mr. Dubois’ office for a visit. After we finished our business talking and were about to leave the company, Mr. Dubois sincerely and seriously said to us: “In general, the French people do not like to speak English. Some people, who do know how to speak English, would pretend not to understand English. In their minds, French is the best language in the world.” In order to protect us, Mr. Dubois prepared 5 pieces of paper cards. And on each card, our hotel name and address were printed. He respectively gave one piece of paper card to each of us, and then said: “Whenever you lose your way on your Paris tour, you just stop a taxi and then show this card to the driver. And the driver will send you to your hotel safely. No need for you to speak English to the driver”.

In view of the fact that we had just arrived in France, we would need some cash for our daily use. So I decided to let the person who was in charge of money spending take out a couple of traveler’s checks and then use them to exchange for the French franc at a local bank. Since none of the group members could speak French, I wanted to ask Mr. Dubois to send one staff member to escort us to the bank. It was just at the point of my doing so, Xiao Qi, who came from the Ministry, confidently said to me: “No need to ask Mr. Dubois for help. Even though I learned English at the university, yet French was my second foreign language. I can handle this matter should French speaking be needed”. I was very happy to hear what Xiao Qi said.

Five of us said good-bye to Mr. Dubois. Then we walked to a local bank which was not far away from Mr. Dubois’ company. After we stepped into the bank, Xiao Qi and the member who was in charge of money spending walked directly to one of the bank’s business windows while three of us remained sitting in the waiting room. I saw Xiao Qi was talking to a pretty French girl, the bank clerk, at the window. I could hear Xiao Qi speaking loudly in “French”, but I did not understand what he was saying about because French was not my second foreign language. But the funny thing was that the beautiful girl was just staring at Xiao Qi while listening to what he was talking. I guessed from her facial expressions that she did not understand him. She just kept silent. Xiao Qiwas a little bit worried and nervous since he could not get any direct response from the bank clerk, so he tried to use his “French” again to repeat what he had just said (I guessed that he must say: “we would like to use our traveler’s checks for exchanging some cash of French franc”). This time, the girl kept silence for a while and then suddenly used English to ask Xiao Qi: “Do you speak English?”

At that very moment, I saw Xiao Qi’s face turning red in shame. Xiao Qi’s “excellent and standard” French speaking put all of us at a very embarrassing situation. We did not know if we should laugh or cry! Meanwhile, all four of us said to ourselves: “Oh Qi, what a good French speaker you are!”

 The Bread Here is Really Delicious!

When I worked in Stamford, Connecticut, USA, I frequently hosted the Chinese delegations or trade groups who came to USA for paper and paper pulp purchasing. One time, the director of the largest paper-making factory in Jiangxi Province and his two assistants came to my company for signing a big contract. You must understand that Jiangxi Paper Mill was a state-owned enterprise and it was really a big factory in Nanchang, capital city of Jiangxi Province. Every year, they bought a large quantity of American paper pulp from our company, and then they used the pulp for the paper-making. It was known to us that important customers were our “God” whom our livelihood depended. It was natural for me and my colleagues to give the 3-member trade group a warm welcome.

After the first day of business meeting was over, it was dinner time. In order to show my hospitality towards the three VIPs, I decided to invite them to a dinner at a Western-styled restaurant that was regarded as the best one in the city of Stamford. The three trade group members and I stepped into the restaurant and were seated at the table. We had appetizers first. Then I ordered the decent, tasteful and expensive main courses for our distinguished guests. Those dishes were New York steak, Bostonlobster and Alaska salmon plus New England clam chowder soups. I expected that my choice for them would be highly praised. After the dinner was over, I politely asked the factory director, who was a very famous and influential figure in the Chinese paper industry, as well as a frequent international traveler, if he and his followers were satisfied with the food I ordered for them. I was greatly surprised to hear what the factory director replied: “Oh, yes, the bread here is really delicious!” I almost fainted when I heard his comment.

After saying good-bye to the Jiangxi guests, I met with a high-ranking trade delegation, and this delegation’s members all came from China’s HubeiProvince. The reason why I said it was a high-ranking delegation was that the seven delegation members all possessed high-ranking positions. They were either the Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner of Hubei Provincial Economic & Foreign Trade Affairs Committee, or the Departments Chiefs from the different government-owned organizations of HubeiProvince. In a word, all the seven members were high-ranking officials.

The delegation’s visiting schedule was very tight. They just came to my office that afternoon and would only give me a few hours for business discussions. They would then leave for another city before dinner time. Facing such a special situation, I knew that it would be impossible to invite them to have a formal dinner either at a Chinese restaurant or an Italian one. The only possibility for entertaining them was to let them have a fast food before they leave. So I took them to a McDonald’s that was close to my office. In order to make them feel better since they were VIPs from Hubei Province, I especially ordered the “Double Big Mac” for each of them. That meant that there were two pieces of ground beef pies inside each hamburger, and our guests could enjoy more meat. Before I placed orders, I did ask the delegation members for their advice and see if they would like the hamburger or not, none of them said “No” to me. When the food was served, those VIPs just silently ate the burgers and buried their heads to drink Coca-Cola. It seemed to me that everything was ok! It was just after the meal was over, and I occasionally gave a casual glance at the table where those VIPs sat around, I was startled immediately in amazement. I saw with my own eyes that there were fourteen (14) pieces of complete ground beef pies on it. The reason was simple: none of those seven (7) Chinese officials liked the ground beef, but they did love the bread. So they ate up all the bread and left beef over on the trays.

Again, I experienced the Chinese people’s “national complex” of loving the Chinese food and suffering from the Western taste!

(END)

 About the Author:

Ruzhong Gong (Ralph Gong), born in Shanghai, China, now living in the USA.

Graduated From the English Department of Universityof International Business and Economics, Beijing, China

Before retirement, President of an USA overseas company under China National Light Industrial Products Imp. & Exp. Corp.; President of a joint-venture company in USA, jointly owned by Australia’s Lief Group Company and China National Chemical Products Imp. & Exp. Corp.; President of an American Brach Corp. under China National Foreign Trade Bases Corp.; Chief Representative in Beijing Office under Trade Am, an American Carpets Wholesale Company.

Author of 6 books, including “My Life—Family, Career & VIPs”, “How to Do Business in Mainland of China”, “My Leisure Time”, “My Leisure Time—Poems & Articles” , “Poems and Essays from Leisure Chamber” and “Flowers By My Side”.

Member of the Chinese Poetry Society (CPS), Free Lance Writer for Austrian Sinopress, and Senior Consultant for Taiwan Caiwei Publishing House.

龚如仲：生于上海，中国对外经济贸易大学英语系毕业，毕业后奔赴非洲任铁道部援建坦赞铁路工作组总部英语翻译，中国国际广播电台英语部英语播音员、记者，外贸部中国轻工业品进出口总公司出口二处业务员、副处长，外贸部轻工业品进出口总公司驻美国公司总裁（处长）。

有关作品：

自2012年至2016年，台湾采薇出版社出版自传【岁月如重】（该书已被香港中文大学图书馆、美国纽约市立图书馆和澳大利亚国家图书馆作为自传体作品正式收藏），【东西南北中国人---细谈如何在大陆做生意】，【悠然时光】和【悠然时光---如仲诗语】。

 2018年4月，中国国际广播出版社出版【悠然斋诗文选】

 2018年9月，中国国际广播出版社出版【花儿在身边开放】

 2019年4月，台湾采薇出版社出版英文书【My Life—Family, Career & VIPs】

作者现为中华诗词学会会员、中国经典文学网特约作家、台湾采薇出版社资深顾问、奥地利英文网Sinopress特聘专栏作家、北美北斗星文学社副社长、副总编辑。