Earlier chapters have delineated the conflicting expectations and cultural nuances that can enter into and affect the interactive experience between Chinese and Americans. They stressed in particular the variety of obstacles that can make smooth and satisfactory interactions between them difficult to realize. Close examination of the communicative import of culturally based discourse conventions has shown how Chinese stereotypical characteristics can take shape and become perpetuated in cross-cultural interactions. I want to pursue this theme by analyzing here two nearly identical instances of interactions between Chinese and American participants. In particular, I shall fit together the pieces of Chinese inscrutability dissected and examined in the previous chapters to give a clearcut demonstration of the evolving stages of American perceptions of Chinese inscrutability.

The strikingly different assumptions and perceptions with which Chinese and Americans often approach each other contribute to a remarkable instability in their relationship. As I have argued throughout, this instability has been accentuated by a tension created in part by the misreading of subtle cues in conversational encounters and an unfamiliarity with culturally based communicative strategies. What seem to be unproblematic and straightforward moments in their interactions are in fact troubling ambiguities which can create unanticipated misunderstandings and distortions.

When not tested for depth, instances of mismatched responses between Chinese and Americans are manageable.