Work...in China

Working in China has puzzled me in many aspects.

Our company has been getting ready for international export show. (Its both an import and export, but China doesn't import many goods.) We have been working none stop for the last week. We had to come in on Saturday and Sunday and stay late everyday.

Yet like usual, we take a huge lunch break. From 12:00 to around 2pm, the office stops all work. Some like to nap or play cards, while others go shopping for things. After 2pm though, its all work, and sometimes we go until 8pm or later to finish up on work. (The buses stop running after around 8:30 depending on the route, but the subway runs until 11:30. I have been taking the subway home, because my bus route stops running at 8:30)

Why couldn't we take a shorter lunch break instead of working late or on the weekend? I guess its a ritual in China to take long lunch breaks, and napping after lunch is the norm for most workers. (Even my boss sometimes takes a nap. They also have pillows. They place the pillow on top of the desk and rest their heads on the pillows. I'm not sure if its like this for the rest of China.)

They also take company vacations. (I guess they get a better rate if they go together?) One of the company walls is plastered with pictures of many vacations they have taken together. (Who answers the phones when everyone is gone?) In China, your work family is like your real family. People attach and identity themselves by where they work. I, though do not fully understand.