"Guanxi" also refers to the benefits gained from social connections and usually extends from extended family, school friends, workmates and members of common clubs or organizations. It is customary for Chinese people to cultivate an intricate web of "guanxi" relationships, which may expand in a huge number of directions, and includes lifelong relationships. Staying in contact with members of your network is not necessary to bind reciprocal obligations. Reciprocal favors are the key factor to maintaining one’s "guanxi" web, while failure to reciprocate is considered an unforgivable offense (that is, the more one asks of someone, the more one owes them). "Guanxi" can perpetuate a never-ending cycle of favors.