Anne-Laure Monfret

Working in Human Resources as a consultant in management, I lived 8 years (a lucky number by the way) in Shanghai, a city full of energy. Every single day something different was happening. It was while I was there that the idea of a book grew about the concept of "Face," a subject which is such an important part of the Chinese culture, but is often misinterpreted or not well understood. After many years of research, interviews and collects of anecdotes, my book, "Saving Face in China" was born. It was first published in French in 2010, and is now available in English.
I believe this guide will be useful for you if you have links with China. I feel confident it will help to enable people understand each other better. And, at the same time, avoid misunderstandings, especially in learning patience with those who don’t think in the same way. A Chinese proverb says "patience—with time, grass becomes milk."
I currently live in the New York area—another city bursting with life, noise and creativity. I have a pocketful of projects underway: I’m writing another book related to China, working on a TV program on China and preparing lectures for the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai as well as for the international section of the business school EM Lyon. It also gives me a wonderful reason to visit China again.
I currently divide my time between journalism, writing and music. Over time I have developed a special passion for an "Erhu," a two-stringed Chinese violin. This inspires me to work even harder just to provide time to practice that difficult instrument.
Moreover, being deeply involved in all these three areas allows me explore the creativity of different disciplines and to meet people that have different lives, dreams and values. I find this a true joy – new encounters, new ideas and the growth emerging from it — to me this is vitally important.