It was during this time, when he and his business partner and co-founder Freddie Cull came up with the idea of starting The Etiquette Society, a company that focused on Western etiquette and communication skills.

Shaw had experienced the differences in Western etiquette and Chinese etiquette first hand, more than once.

"When I first arrived in Beijing, a girl from the university was supposed to help me to settle down," he says.

"She showed me the grocery store, where to buy myself a bike and so on. At the end of the day, I instinctively kissed her on the cheek. She screamed like I was attacking her and never spoke to me again.

"She obviously misunderstood the signal and felt offended.

"It is not natural for Chinese people to kiss socially, and this experience made me want to understand the gap that effects people in everyday life.

"That is always present and divides polite manners between East and West."

The company doesn't focus on business etiquette but on the social interaction between Chinese people and foreigners.

Chinese clients want to learn how to interact effectively with Westerners, explains 28-year-old Chinese PR officer, Delia, who works for a foreign company.

"My company organizes a lot of events, I have many foreign friends and I speak good English," she says.

"Still, I can feel clueless in some situations. I want to be able to enjoy social events to the fullest. By knowing how to interact in a Western atmosphere I can do that.

"Etiquette in your day-to-day life is very important in my work. How to dine and use cutlery, glass handling on a table with Western food, how to dress for different events - I feel confident when I do this now and for me that's very important."

According to Shaw it is not a question of pointing fingers, or objecting to what's wrong or right.

He recalls during his internship when his Chinese boss introduced him to a visiting professor.

Shaw's Chinese boss introduced him to the professor as the company intern 'with the blond girlfriend from California'.

"My boss, an extremely talented man and one of the leaders in his industry, introduced me to his business associates in a way that would have been a big no, no in Europe.

It was this gaffe that motivated Shaw's business idea.

Last year he embarked on a new social netowrking project, Femme500, an exclusive club for women living in Beijing with a taste for the luxury lifestyle.

The membership offers these women access to numerous exclusive offers and access to private events.

Everything is aimed at growing Chinese spending power.

"The club's members are stylish empowered women living in Beijing," he says.

"They are women who are like-minded and appreciate exclusivity and preferential treatment.

"We saw a need for these women to have a platform where they could meet their peers.

"These ladies want to try different things, they demand the latest in fashion, wine and dine and luxury products.

"Together with our partners, we can offer them that."

For Loren Ma, a 25-year-old freelance writer, the efficiency of having a 24-hour concierge, a service that Femme500 provides, is what she appreciates the most.

"I am quite lazy by nature. To be able to have a concierge that can provide help for my home and daily life is very convenient," she says.

"I use my Femme500 card almost every day and enjoy visiting different arrangements, like fashion events.

"Even if I and the other women have different lifestyles, we still share similar interests."

Four years and two companies later the 25-year-old has learned a lot. But it has not always been easy.

"The benefit of flexibility is necessary to survive here," he says.

"And to be prepared to ditch ideas that sound goodand are well established in the West might not work here.

"China is changing so fast. A business plan that worked five years ago might not do today.

"Conducting useable market research and finding past research near impossible."

He plans to stay in China for at least five more years and vows to do so even if he misses home.

"When I first arrived, the rapid growth that I saw gave me a lot of faith," he says. "One day you go down one street, next, in a blink of an eye, it's all changed.

"I certainly saw that potential in China when I first came, and that's why I am still here."