If you’ve ever visited one of the more than 6,243 Starbucks stores in China? You’ll notice the same branding and design, but you’ll feel an entirely different vibe…

The China Reflection: What “They” Reveal About Who We Are—and Who We Can Become began with a simple idea — that language fluency isn’t about learning vocabulary, it’s about emotions, meaning, and context.

If we work backward from my observations — Understanding Chinese psychology and its reflections is more beneficial than studying Chinese culture, and I’m humbled to share a new approach to helping friends and colleagues bridge what divides us: a lack of curiosity and imagination.

After years of creating courses, hosting events, and publishing books, Speak Less, Guanxi More is finally ready to meet the world — this reflection journal is the best chance of transforming your reality in a universe where nothing seems to “change their behavior…”

• “They” are your Chinese counterparts.
• Curiosity is where you begin shaping a new reality in China.

After deeply embedding myself in Chinese culture for decades, and countless attempts to share my discoveries with the world, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not culture that divides us; rather, it is the human psychologies that elude our awareness.

Inside the Chinese arena, Art Of War undercurrents defy Western logic, and a lack of awareness creates a handicap.

Speak Less, Guanxi More is the first in a series of reflection journals designed to reignite curiosity and elevate awareness for anyone seeking to write a new China story.

After spending 15 years in China and returning to the US in 2018, I wanted to develop a more positive message for my fellow Americans still struggling to communicate with Chinese partners, in both business and personal relationships.

I self-published The Chinese Honeymoon Period in 2023 after a decade of hosting Meetup events in Shanghai and later in Southern California — Covid-19 hit in 2019, the same year my son was born, and suddenly it was no longer viable to meet in person. I became a stay-at-home dad.

Talking about China is a crowded market, and there’s no shortage of “experts” in Chinese language and culture creating content and publishing books, but the chasm that exists between China and the US has never been wider or deeper — Why?

Answer: A rigid mindset must be defrosted before cultural differences can be absorbed.

Because “…the opposite of judgment is curiosity, and the reverse of curiosity is judgment.”

Saturday, November 1, 2025 — Speak Less, Guanxi More officially launches worldwide, but I’m giving the entire 144-page PDF and Flipbook (Heyzine) for free, in case you are curious.

And in case you are serious about taking control of your relationships in China, you can buy your own companion reflection journal.