As the Year of the Ox begins, those in China business are understandably jittery about business prospects given the global financial crisis.

Although reading China’s tea leaves may help set you on the right path, we believe you don’t have to look far to know whether you’ll have a good year or not.

Without further ado, here are the top 10 signs your business is headed down the good China path, or the bad one. Note: Many of these signs are the same – damn the devil for always being in the details!

Bad Signs

#10: You’re not just staring at funny useless vehicles anymore. You’re the driver.

#9: You’ve suddenly got a lot of spare time on the Great Wall.

#8: This sign hangs on your office door.

#7: You’re starving.

#6: The new office lift.

#5: Your staff.

#4: The Lonely Planet misunderstood your hotel.

#3: Your competitor’s new nearby office space came with an appropriate graph of your company’s recent Shanghai stock performance.

#2: Employee Appreciation Day couldn’t afford tent cover.

#1: You don’t know how to read this. Or Chinese.

Good Signs

#10: You’re the new MTV Asia director of Pimp My Ride.

#9: You’ve suddenly got a lot of spare time on the Great Wall.

#8: This sign hangs on your office door.

#7: Your customers are always hungry.

#6: The office underachiever’s typical morning workout.

#5: Your staff is growing faster than your infrastructure.

#4: Even your office toilet has guanxi.

#3: Your Grade B office space still came equipped with a roller coaster…

#2: …and pool tables for the lunch hour.

#1: On a blue sky day, it’s got to be a harbinger.

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