8/13/2019
One Who Moved Out To Get Rich. 1. Edition: The Empress of Suzhou
Target group:
For everybody who like to know how life and business in China is going on, where you put your foot in it and what are the culture and business differences between Western and Eastern world, between Christians and Buddhists, men and women.
„The Empress of Suzhou“. E-book ISBN 978-3-939366-61-4. Paperback
ISBN 978-3-939366-62-1. 392 pages.
This is the first volume of an adventurous journey across Asia. The business and private experiences and experiences of the German expatriate and emigrant Franz Übermut. Marvel at the "ultra-modern" China and the millennia-old strategies (tricks), superstitions, traditions, TCM knowledge, culinary skills and self-esteem rooted in the minds. You can also learn about the wide-ranging cultural differences between the west and east, which drop a brick by many travelers and business people.
Reviews by readers:
1. What does the poet want to tell us in his words? The book has been announced as an inside report on the "culture of China". Knowledge that would help us to find our way in the jungle of everyday Chinese and business life. What we can experience instead is how a Chinese wife, 20 years younger, insults, humiliates and harasses her German husband. The only thing she's talking about and what she's interested in is money. He probably has too little of that. He's a failure, she tells him that every day. And he is weak, as can be seen from the fact that he is constantly being harassed by her.
One could think: Is that all nonsense, irony or masochism? And is it part of masochism that Franz describes his negative experiences instead of keeping them to himself?
Parallel to the marriage war, Franz describes his professional and financial failures in the land of unlimited opportunities. Corruption, fraud and bureaucratic difficulties are the order of the day in the Middle Kingdom. You have to have good relationships with the administration, state officials and the party. Incidentally, the parents of his Chinese wife are party members. It is mentioned in passing, that one suspects that good Franz does not even know what that actually means for him.
Overall verdict: The book is also the psychodrama of a knight of luck in China. A grace point for work to get a glimpse of the joys of an intercultural marriage.
2. I think, this non-fiction book is a masterpiece, as it combines in-depth information with an exciting story. At the end of the book I also find a meaningful list of the keywords on Chinese culture and Chinese traditions with page numbers.
3. Everything is right for me, as Franz Übermut describes a modern China privately and professionally. His wife Hong also represents the confident and aggressive Chinese women who fight for prestige, success and wealth in Chinese society. Chinese women are different from other Asian women. After all, I am married to a Chinese woman and lived and worked there for a few years. The pursuit of wealth is a top priority for all Chinese. However, I didn't have the courage like Franz to stay there long. Kanghan Yuan deliberately called Franz's last name “Übermut”, which means translated "cockiness" or “self-conceit” Whoever reads the book knows why. Even the umlaut "Ü" in the name creates unforeseen problems with the authorities. His other challenges include visa problems, communication, cultural differences, lack of ethics and morals, and covered tricks and criminal activities by the Chinese, his misjudgment of financial and personal risks, health threats. In his situation, trying to run his head through the wall and / or risking a divorce would be fatal for Franz. That is why I find his chosen direction "patience and friendliness bring money" realistic, everything else would be out of touch with everyday life. See also the 36 famous war strategies of Sunzi that some of them are included in this first volume. Even though others consider Franz a "weak person", Kanghan Yuan has given his Franz the knowledge he has gained over China over the years.
4. This is the first volume of an adventurous journey across Asia. The business and private experiences and experiences of the German expatriate and emigrant Franz Übermut. We are excited to see how the story continues with him, his company, his jealous wife and the dangerous in-laws. Maybe the second volume is called "Franz strikes back!"
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