With the acceleration of globalization, academic developers from institutions and countries with established educational development programs and networks are called upon increasingly to share their expertise and offer guidance to colleagues in emerging higher education contexts. Based on a higher education conference held in Beijing in 2009, this paper captures the learning as the Chinese host institutions and international exchange partners progressed toward a more developed understanding and application of elastic, post-colonial approaches to the interchange. It includes a set of recommendations and guidelines to assist future international exchanges, based on the insights gained throughout this rich experience. (Contains 2 figures and 1 table.)