Z J Tong: Chinese Cultural Institute’s man with a mission
By Susan Fong
Learning
about China can be a formidable task. Three years ago, Beijing-born
entrepreneur Zhong Jun Tong set out to make that job easier by founding the
Chicago Chinese Cultural Institute (CCCI) and the Chinese Cultural
Bookstore.
Located in a second floor office in Chinatown Square at 2145 S. China Pl., the two organizations aim to better acquaint Chicago with Chinese culture. With Mayor Daley’s decision to make 2009 the China Gateway year, Tong, also known as “ZJ,” is positioned perfectly to provide essential services for travelers, businesses, and the just plain curious. Among his most popular services are cross-cultural training, cuisine information, Chinatown tours, and language classes.
“Doing business with another culture requires an open mind,” said Tong in his impeccable English, “and working with a culture as old as China’s can be disorienting.”
Randall W. Patterson and his partners at Lake Pointe Partners found Tong’s classes through the Illinois Trade Association calendar. Thanks to what they learned, they successfully opened a Shanghai consulting office early this year.
“Preparation is an important key to moving abroad,” Patterson said. “An important service that Tong offers is the resettlement help to businesses and families relocating to China.”
Partner Kurt S. Knipp found Tong’s advice gave him a good start concerning business conduct and stressed how important it is to have a win-win attitude in negotiating with another culture.
Nancy Tom, executive director of the Center for Asian Arts and Media at Columbia College, has known Tong since he was assistant director at Chicago’s Chinatown Chamber of Commerce and has worked with him through Columbia and the Shanghai-Chicago Sister Cities program.
“He is an important resource for our area,” Tom explained. “Things are not always so direct and require a real sense of listening. Here is where etiquette and culture are critical.”
Filmmaker Linda Gerber traveled to China in preparation for a six-part documentary and witnessed how bewildering, enchanting, and disorienting the experience can be. “We forget as Americans how much class and race play a role outside of the U.S. Positions and titles are important in China.”
Tong said preoccupation with formal ways of addressing others stems not from China’s strong economy, with its new millionaires and billionaires, but from its thousands of years of tradition.
The “through-line” to interacting well with another culture is the ability to suspend one’s own foundation of cultural training, Gerber added.
Bridging cultures is nothing new for Tong. As an English-speaking student in China, he served as a tour guide to various foreign delegations that included many Americans. Through contacts made at that time, he came to complete a graduate degree in Dayton, OH, eight years ago. Next, he came to Chicago after answering a “roommate wanted” ad.
Invisible Record Company owner Martin Atkins attends Sunday language classes at the CCCI. The owner returned late last fall from a scouting expedition on which he signed new Chinese artists.
“Learning Chinese was a necessary next step for me,” Atkins explained. “I had to travel to China in order to find a resource like the Cultural Institute in my own back yard,” he said, laughing.
He and Tong met through a contact from the Chicago Cultural Center and found they share similar goals in wanting to connect Chinese and American cultures. Atkins has since shared his expertise to enrich CCCI’s services.
Said Tong, “For our classes, Martin helped us produce the language CDs for the Institute.”
Much of Tong’s vision grew from the two and half years he spent at the Chicago Chinatown Chamber before starting his own organization. That experience helped him see the growing unmet need for cross-cultural services.
“I have learned to be proactive and not to wait for non-Asians to approach,” said Tong. After consulting with the Chinatown Small Business Development Center, he decided against a non-profit organization and launched the institute and bookstore.
“ZJ Tong is certainly one of the city’s cultural troupers,” said art dealer David Parker, who met Tong a few years ago when he wanted to refresh his Mandarin skills.
Tong organized the Language Corner as a regular meeting place for Mandarin language students; the name refers to the informal street corner language exchanges that once existed in China.
“Tong’s services fill a gap,” Parker said. “As there aren’t many places to practice the language skills, ZJ provides a comfortable learning environment.”
Tong maintains partnerships with many galleries, businesses, and universities. Last month, he traveled overseas to organize his summer study abroad program and acquire inventory for his store.
In May, he will partner with Remy Martin and Primitive Gallery for an Asian Elegance event as well as the Asian Elegance Tour throughout the city.
Columbia’s Tom expects “to be hearing a lot more about his participation in future city events.”
Despite his world travels and international background, Tong said Chicago is his home. His ability to bridge cultures has allowed him to secure support for CCCI from non-Asians as well as Asian American.
When asked what he expects for the future, he smiled and said he is “a man on a mission.” Despite CCCI’s success, Chicago remains “an open field” with many opportunities and much work to be done.
For a complete list of services and events, log on to www.chicagocci.com or call (312) 842-1988.
