Harsh words, but all too often accurate. 

Of course, it’s rare that these approaches are stated so obviously, but it doesn’t take much effort to see them subtly at work. It’s an invidious process that can kill a business proposal. 

I was recently asked to help with a product aimed at Chinese consumers. 

The manager pointed to a photo of the Northern Territory’s iconic red rock at Uluru. We cannot use that he said and went on to explain his reasoning. In 2008, the film AUSTRALIA was released in China and the tourism authority was excited at the prospect of the thousands of Chinese tourists it would attract to visit the Territory. 

Instead, Chinese audiences were repelled by the dirt, flies and primitive Outback conditions in the film, which they associated with a countryside life they were keen to escape from. 

It was a valuable lesson in the dangers of cultural (un)awareness, but it has not been forgotten. The failure of the film to achieve tourism objectives really set the strategy focus for Australian tourism for the next 16 years. Unfortunately, this mistake achieved iconic mythical status, which has itself become a new mistake in cultural misunderstanding. 

One of the significant impacts of covid in China, from a tourism perspective, was the discovery of the Chinese “Outback”. Unable to travel internationally, Chinese tourists discovered their own backyard. Tourism boomed in Gansu, Xinjiang and other remote places, which were the very opposite of the glittering cities of China, Asia and Europe. 

Intrepid Chinese travellers discovered 4WD vehicles, adventure trekking, camping outdoors and the harsh beauty of the Taklamakan Desert and the Gansu wilderness. This is “experience tourism” and it sets a new paradigm for Chinese international tourist travel. 

And that now makes a photo of the Uluru red rock exactly relevant to Chinese tourists and investors in 2024. It is the tourist with additional money to spend who forms the core of this adventure tourism. This tourist is also a potential investor in the Northern Territory. 

The know-your-customer requirement is not something set in stone, done once and then unchanged forever. 

Existing businesses are forced to acknowledge these changes in consumer preferences because they can track the growth, or decline, of China orders in real time. Smart businesses alter their product lines, or adjust the way services are delivered. 

The challenge is more difficult for those businesses that are looking to enter the Chinese market for the first time. Even if they access the most recent market research, the results are filtered through their own preconceptions that may be seriously outdated. Conclusions and lessons that were valid pre-covid may, like the lesson from the 2008 AUSTRALIA film, now be completely wrong or irrelevant. 

A few weeks ago I worked with a small group of Westerners visiting China for the first time. We were all speakers at a conference attended by more than 1000 guests. I asked them for their 

top three impressions of China. There were three features that were most common in their responses. 

The first was that Chinese were nice people and they did not live in fear. Certainly conference attendees treated the speakers with deference and helpful friendliness. 

However, outside of the conference venue, in the streets and restaurants, the shops and byways, people were unfailingly friendly and helpful. Strangers were happy to use their limited English to help overcome language barriers when shopping transactions went awry. No-one shunned contact with foreigners for fear of being under surveillance. 

The second observation was great surprise at the advanced level of infrastructure. Americans in particular were astounded at the quality of freeways and rail infrastructure, including clean airport-like stations. 

I am not sure what they expected from this tier 2 city, but they were surprised by its modernity and functionality. Piccadilly Circus may be quaint, but it’s not advanced infrastructure. The US subway and stations come from another century when compared with the smoothly efficient high-speed rail system in China. 

The third common impression was in relation to the advanced green and hi-tech services. Smooth payment by WePay was a surprise to many. They found cash was virtually useless. The extensive use of solar and wind power, the smart placement of solar panels and the proliferation of so many different modern electric vehicles came as a surprise. 

Sure, they knew about Chinese EVs, but they were unaware of the variety available and the technical advances. They watched in awe as a driver, while standing on the kerb, used his Huawei phone to automatically parallel park his car. 

The impact of advanced technology for first time visitors was a leap into the future. 

I don’t want to suggest that these are the three most important observations about China. However, what is of interest is the degree to which these observations were wildly different from what these Westerners had been led to believe about China. 

Long-term success in the China market depends on how quickly errors of perception are recognised and on how quickly viewpoints can be adjusted to accept the reality of China on the ground. 

Daryl Guppy is an international financial technical analysis expert. He has provided weekly Shanghai Index analysis for mainland Chinese media for more than a decade. Guppy appears regularly on CNBC Asia and is known as “The Chart Man”. He is a former national board member of the Australia China Business Council. The views expressed here are his own.