Business Leader Brings Humor and Insight To New Guide to China
An excellent short guide to Chinese business and culture that draws on 60 years of experience.
Born in Hong Kong, author Eddie Flores, Jr. moved to Hawaii at 16 and went on to create one of the most successful restaurant chains in the United States: L & L Hawaiian Barbecue. In a new book, 108 Tips on Business, Travel, and Culture in China, Flores, Jr. and his daughter Elisia, along with illustrator Jon J. Murakami, entertainingly guide business people and travelers through Chinese customs and culture.
Written and illustrated in Eddie’s signature Hawaiian”talking story” style, 108 Tips on Business, Travel, and Culture in China provides information about Chinese beliefs, traditions and expectations that any tourist will find useful and that anyone doing business in China will find invaluable. Included are short overviews of Chinese history, government and geography that serve to orient the reader to the terrain and culture. It covers the concepts of Guanxi (connection) and Mianzi (saving face), which those hoping to establish business relationships with Chinese companies will need to know, and traditional Chinese beliefs like Confucianism that are key to understanding the Chinese psyche.
Narrated in an easy, conversational style and punctuated with cartoons and illustrations, “108 Tips” manages to be both informative and entertaining. It is a must have for anyone hoping to understand Chinese culture and those who are involved in business with the Chinese.
This is not a comprehensive guide to business in China, nor is it an exhaustive travel guide. It is, however, a rare commodity: a primer on a culture that many Westerners find opaque and confusing, written so that the reader can’t help but be charmed by the Chinese and, indeed, by the authors.
108 Tips on Business, Travel, and Culture in China is Available in Paperback or eBook Format
From Inside the Book
Cartoons illustrate key points of Chinese culture and belief.
About the Authors
Since his arrival in Hawaii as a sixteen-year-old immigrant, Eddie Flores Jr., president of L & L restaurant chain, has distinguished himself as a successful entrepreneur and a community activist. The early years were very trying, and Eddie was compelled to work to support himself. Two years after his graduation from University of Hawaii, he unleashed his entrepreneurial spirit and formed his own real estate company. In 1976, he purchased his first L & L as a gift to his mother. Subsequently, Eddie expanded L & L from a single store into 145 restaurants during a time of unprecedented economic hardship in Hawaii. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the way Flores runs his business is his generosity and unselfishness. Eddie has provided loans, credit, and lease guaranty for his employees in the L & L restaurant 
chain so they can share the same American dream.
Eddie Flores, Jr. is a well known entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded and taught micro economics workshops in economically distressed neighborhoods, helped to raise over $14 million for a Filipino community center in Hawaii, and endowed a $1 million scholarship at the University of Hawaii’s Shidler College of Business. He serves on the Boards of numerous charities, including Hawaii Goodwill Industries, and has received awards for his entrepreneurship and charity from a diverse group of institutions, including Ernst and Young LLP and the National Association of Realtors.
Eddie speaks and reads Chinese and has had extensive dealings with Chinese in the United States and in China. He is the author of the “$266 Million Winning Lottery Recipes: L&L Hawaiian Barbecue Cookbook”
Elisia Flores is the proud daughter of Eddie and Elaine Flores and the Chief Financial Officer of L&L Drive-Inn, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue and L&L Hawaiian Grill.. Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, she holds a Bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Southern California and a Master’s degree in business administration from the University of California, Los Angeles. Prior to working at L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, Elisia worked at General Electric, traveling domestically and internationally. She has been to China on multiple occasions to study and to experience Chinese culture, history and the business environment.
Jon J. Murakami is a freelance cartoonist born and raised in Hawaii. He is best known for his line of “Local Kine” greeting cards, which depict humorous occasions & holidays in Hawaii. His regular comic strips include “Calabash” with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and “Generation Gap” with the Hawaii Herald. He has illustrated several Hawaiian children’s picture and board books and self-publishes the comics “Gordon Rider” and “The Ara-Rangers”. His comic work, greeting cards and clothing can be found on his website and the 22 books he has illustrated can be found on his Author Page.
L&L Hawaiian Barbecue is a theme-based franchise restaurant chain based in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is known for popularizing the Hawaiian plate lunch. In 2002, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue was named one of the “50 Regional Powerhouse Chains” by Nation’s Restaurant News and in 2005 it was ranked at #165 out of the top 500 franchises by Entrepreneur Magazine. There are close to 200 L&L restaurants in Hawaii, California, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, Utah, Texas, New York, American Samoa, New Zealand and Japan.
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