one of the key concepts they try to get across to those new to China is mianzi or “face”. You can give face
and you can lose face. Nobody wants to lose it. You have to be sensitive to hierarchy in China. If you’re
arranging a dinner party, you put the least senior person closest to the door. Conversation should be
addressed to the most senior person (like a government official) to begin with. If there is a toast, you can
clink glasses, but you have to make sure the rim of your glass is lower than the local bigwig’s glass,
otherwise you risk giving offence. By going lower you are giving face. “There’s sometimes a battle as to who
goes lower,” says Nivern. “You can end up on the floor.”
Just as Nivern was inspired by the 1998 World Cup, so too, 10 years later, the Beijing Olympics of 2008
gave CRCC Asia a significant boost. The Chinese government took the games seriously enough to close
factories and pull vehicles off the road with a view to cutting pollution. “It was all perfectly choreographed.
You could say regimented. The closing ceremony was fantastic too.”
Apparently the thing that shocked his Chinese friends most was the sight of then mayor of London, Boris
Johnson, leading our 2012 handover, looking scruffy, with his jacket unbuttoned, one hand in his pocket,
and his shirt hanging half out. He showed a lack of respect and lost a lot of face that day. “But at least I
managed to get into the stadium this time,” said Nivern.