About Guanxi

Guanxi is a culture-first Mandarin course for an English-speaking beginner who wants to build lasting relationships while working in Shenzhen.

How it works

Fourteen chapters and seventy short lessons combine useful phrases, sentence building, listening practice, stories and choices in new situations. Learn a little, recall it immediately, and return to due cards after 1, 3, 7, 14, 30 and 60 days. There are no hearts or lives.

The scenes feature a fictional learner, Lin Yue, Chen Wei and Zhou Min in real places. They illustrate questions to ask; they do not describe what every person in China thinks. Check an individual’s preference. Current travel rules, prices and schedules need fresh confirmation.

Sound and progress

Audio uses a Mandarin voice already available in your browser. It can help you listen and rehearse, but it cannot assess your pronunciation. If no Mandarin voice is available, tone listening becomes ungraded visual practice. Progress is kept in browser storage, with export and import in the Me tab. There is no login, microphone or external speech service. PostHog counts visits and learning activity on the production app; names, typed answers and recordings are not sent.

Editorial notes

Examples are original. Pinyin shows dictionary tones; spoken changes are labeled where taught. This is a practical foundation, not an HSK or BCT certified course or a promise of fluency. The material has not been represented as native-speaker reviewed.

Sources linked by culture cards

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