Right Laotou! As I said before, those are my opinions and we all have them. I love China! I love living here quite frankly but it doesn't mean I have to like everything that's in it. There are many good things about China as Laotou mentioned previously. I feel much safer here than in New York where I was born and raised. Just because in his previous posts, Gaoxing said some outrageous things, it doesn't mean that he's totally wrong. I criticize my country for the things they don't do right but I also praise it for the things it does right. It's part of living life and experiencing it. By the way, intelligence has nothing to do with anything here. It's just points of views.

gaoxing is a concoction of someone's mind. specifically, a pseudo personality of anyone who subscribes to this thread. chew on that. still..a kool thread though.

Rude - Chewing with your mouths wide open like cattle, pushing and cutting ahead in lines, spitting everywhere, never apologizing when you are in the wrong, literally screaming on your cell phone in public(You will find the same problem in London,specially on some place like Oxford St.)

Inconsiderate - making shoddy products and passing them off as quality, completely disregarding any traffic laws, throwing garbage everywhere

backward - censoring the underground system, a friend of mine,who's from Pakistan once was followed from London to Leicester, and finally arrestted for one night, just because the man took a photo of the train in London and had an Arabian face. people would happey if you can pay with cash everywhere (because they can avoid the tax)

prejudice - thinking everyone with an asian face is fool and wants to sell your stolen computer or cell phone on the street, charging anyone without a white face more than one with, an unfounded fear and resent towards black people

For concultion, see, things are just a little better in the UK. people do have prejudice, but we must control it, because some of us are educated, but others might not be.

Actually I love some of the things Gaoxing hates. My favorite is the cell phone conversation in the elevator. Gives me an opportunity to blow off some steam. When I'm in the mood - I'll also jump onto my cell phone and immediately start screaming non-sensical Mark Twain-ish jibberish to compete for volume control within the enclosed space. Immature I know - but it helps blow off steam - and to me - it's humorous...it amused my wife - and that's all that counts - she's happy and smiling and I'm once again the wealthiest man in the world...although JJ would argue that's his forte.

Laotou - - there's enough happiness for us all!!!
Cheers - - JJ

Don't hesitate to move back to your white, tight, suburb if you don't like it here. Personally, I love it all, good and bad.

If you don't like being targeted as a laowai, wear old-fashioned Chinese clothes, get a cap without a brim, and before you know, people will be asking where in Xinjiang you are from or even addressing you in Uighur!

I just go with the crowd and in a sense, I don't mind all the pushing and shoving and standing in front of someone to catch the taxi they've been waiting for 10 minutes! I mean, if everyone else is doing it, jump on the bandwagon, although i would prefer a greater amount of respect for others; on the other hand, there are so many people here so maybe that's why it's such a free-for-all.

I've also noticed numerous negative attitudes towards Chinese people even from their neighbors. Lao and Thai people in Kunming think the Chinese are loud, get angry easily and are dirty because they don't shower much...

Well even though we've all been told not to get visibly angry in Asia, I think that probably doesn't apply in China because Chinese people get visibly angry all the time when something goes wrong right? Loss of face by getting angry makes a point in SE Asia (you better not do it), but not China I think...if you are really upset you can just show your anger coz this is what Chinese people themselves do...right?

i very much agree with gaoxing. Once i was on a train and I was horrified to see a woman spreading her baby's leg's open and letting the baby urinate right on the floor. Another time i was in a store riding the escalator upwards. As i was approaching the top i turned my head and the first sight that greeted me was a baby urinating on the floor. the only thing that stopped the urine from touching me was a glass panel.
I've witnessed first hand most, if not all, of the situations gaoxing's talking about.
In chinese culture, cleanliness maybe viewed and practised differently when compared to western culture. A laowai may think that stuff like "unspoken rules" dont ever have to be taught. For example respecting and keeping the sanity of a hospital, classroom etc. So stuff like spitting is done considerately. In China aint so. U can practically spit anywhere. I see chinese students spitting in classrooms, stores anywhere! It's so bad that the hospitals have to put up signs saying "禁止吐痰" "No spitting".

Well i could go on and on. However I have met Chinese with wonderful personalities. from my experience I can without a doubt say that the different habits practised are influenced by the place. People from the city are generally cleaner and arent as obscene and annoying. Rural folks tend to be less sanitary and go insane when they see a foreigner.

Personally, I like everything about China. Noisy eating is not a serious flaw, nor is letting the babies fertilize on the trees.

If you want to live in a US suburb, why did you come to China?