Aliens from another planet want to visit the Earth in order to trade for some of our unique cultural products. Their homeworld prizes beer and and sorghum-based alcohol, so the aliens arrange for one space shuttle to visit San Marcos, California and another space shuttle to visit Maotai, China. The team of aliens on board each of the spaceships has spent years in space mastering the local language and cultural traditions for their respective destinations.

The aliens are planning to land in San Marcos and Maotai tomorrow. Unfortunately, their space shuttles unexpectedly crash into a Tesla Roadster outside of Earths orbit, which their advanced telescopes had not previously detected as a risk. As a result, the two shuttles are forced to swap their landing approaches, with the China- trained team sent to San Marcos, California and the U.S.-trained team sent to Maotai, China.

In a state of panic, the aliens trade a few of their harvested bitcoins and use the proceeds to hire YOU as a cross-cultural consultant. After getting over your initial surprise and some tough negotiating, you agree to provide advice to ONE of the two teams (your choice) on what they should know and how they should best communicate with the earthlings at their landing site. [In other words: Pick China or the U.S. dont answer for both!]

• How would you recommend avoiding any communication blunders/mistakes (faux pas) in San Marcos/Maotai?