Sample answers
Illustrative examples showing the format and depth of a typical answer. These are not past client engagements — a live answer is written by a verified expert for your specific scope, and only enters the public library after the client's 30-day opt-out window.
First trip to the Yiwu market: how do I ask a price without wasting the booth's time?
Sourcing tripsWritten · $49Illustrative sampleExpert: 9 yrs wholesale-market trader, Yiwu
Direct answer: Don't ask "how much" pointing at one unit — booths quote retail to walk-ins and the conversation dies. The opener that marks you as a buyer: ask for the minimum order per carton (整箱起批), then a price at that quantity. Two or three cartons is wholesale; one piece is retail, and they'll tell you so.
What I'd do next: carry a notebook with three quantities you actually mean — 1 carton / 10 cartons / container — and get all three written down per booth. Haggling one booth by 2% is noise; finding the booth 15% cheaper is the win.
I'm a US founder hiring two people in Chengdu — open an office or just use an EOR?
Company & hiringDeep-dive · $99Illustrative sampleExpert: WFOE registration consultant, Chengdu
Direct answer: A representative office (代表处) can't sign employment contracts or issue invoices — payroll still has to route through a licensed agency, so you pay entity-setup cost without getting entity flexibility. If you're employing people in China for more than a trial quarter, the practical choices are a WFOE (slow, real) or an EOR/PEO provider that employs them for you (fast, reversible).
Limits of this answer: entity structure has home-country tax consequences too — take the US side to a cross-border CPA. This covers how it works on the ground in China.
Getting a parent a specialist appointment in Guangzhou — what does a foreign family actually need?
Daily life & servicesWritten · $49Illustrative sampleExpert: bilingual medical coordinator, Guangzhou
Direct answer: Public tertiary hospitals book via WeChat mini-programs 7–14 days ahead; passport registration works at most, but the SMS verification usually needs a Chinese phone number. The international department skips all of it, takes foreign insurance directly, same doctors, same day — at 3–5× the price.
Do: pick your tradeoff before you fly — "regular wards + a local SIM we'll sort out" or "international dept + zero friction." Don't: assume a passport-only identity clears the 30-yuan registration queue on the day; at 8am Monday, it often doesn't.