In an era of globalization, a central question is how to develop business activities across cultural divides. Two years of participating observation were spent in China to analyze the history and culture of the country, as well as the legal, political and education systems. The study also includes subjects more directly linked to business activities: the definition of economic regions, changes in the national economic model and their impact on the Chinese people, and finally business practices in China. Based on these findings, a guide for doing business in a foreign culture is presented. This addresses the process of building business step by step from preparing