HFCAMPO, while no one should tell you to leave the country, or the forum, not all opinions are deserving of respect. And not all opinions are just opinions-you took an action. A totally irresponsible action.

Your justifications for it don't have a leg to stand on. Your current understandings of law, customs, and social responsibility are seriously simplistic and unsophisticated.

If you know the laws so well, then you could've simply asked the driver not to smoke, quoted the statutes, and even threatened to report him, WITHOUT ACTUALLY REPORTING HIM. That would've gotten the desired effect, without destroying his wages and potentially causing harm to someone's family.

Everyone makes bad calls, I hope you can someday grasp that's exactly what this was.

@james B. c. I have been to dozens of massage places, seen lots of customers, and everyone of them Chinese. So I am baffled by your statement that Chinese people don't go there.

@ P
I think it would be worth complaining about, just to help out other future female customers. I believe I know the place and I would go with you. If his co-workers know, it would make him less likely to do it to other people in the future.

@vexed, those of us who have been surrounded by an angry, racist, mob know that it is all part of the same spectrum. What you contrast, should instead be seen as an interconnected problem.

I also find that a very sizeable proportion of people who stare do not stop once I start staring back.

@yuanyangren I get the hellooooo joke directed at me daily, probably because I spend a lot of time in traffic (on a scooter), or walking around.

@ All,

I wonder why it's the trend for so many people to end their posts with some kind of "well, but it's ok" or "it's not as bad as somewhere else, etc." It seems to me that this kind of topic comes up because, while not deadly or anything, it really is one of the most unattractive things about living here. It is clear that it can even escalate into violence on occasion, were the laowai to stop and tell off the people who cat called at him. We can explain all of the causal factors in detail, and also notice that there are bigger fish to fry, but it doesn't change that it's no fun and that future residents should know about it before they make the move.

If I was British I would be right sickened by the London games. They were told it would be a public-private partnership, cost 3 Billion, and benefit the average working stiff. In the end it will cost up to 20 billion, is 80-90% paid for by the public (who can't afford to actually attend it), and will benefit a few global corporate giants.

The idea of this being an issue of western vs. Chinese culture has been patently refuted in this thread, not sure why some still cling to it.

(By the way,this dichotomy Chinese vs. western culture is one of the most useless concepts that is still pushed all over the place, has very few explanatory powers, and raises more questions than it answers. It isn't much better than mumbling-dude, stuff is different in different places )

I guess some hold this view because they believe it respects diversity, and asks us to be compassionate to different people. But it ends up as a denial of human commonality. Poop smells bad to everyone, no matter what the culture, it really does, it is not subjective.

The irony is that culturizing stupid behavior and saying it is just "different", is an insult to Kunming people. It says that current day mores can't be improved upon, that they think themselves separate, can't accept criticism, are all alike, and are incapable of change. It is patronizing and denies their adulthood.

It actually goes further than this, and just totally papers over the diversity it is supposed to promote.

For example, if these are "Chinese ways" that should be respected, then what of my local Kunming friends who are annoyed by these "ways" when they walk around with me? Are they not Chinese? Not Kunmingers?

I bet if you did a poll and asked Kunmingers if they thought prolonged and daily staring, shouting laowai on the street, etc. is inconsiderate behavior -more than 1/2 would say, perhaps even a large majority would say, yes it is. Such people are fully Chinese and fully local. What about THEIR ways?