One Rule: No Rules
The general pushing, lack of common courtesy, and disregard for personal space I’ve experienced so far in China haven’t been too aggravating other than on early-morning subway rides when I’m at my most chipper. My approach is such: When the cultural rule is that there are no rules, how one is expected to behave in public becomes much more clear. For example, in the arena of elbows and shoving that is the Beijing subway platform, it’s much easier to take your mark and unabashedly sprint to a seat the instant the train doors open than to politely avoid body-slamming someone into a wall, thereby loosing your shot at a place to park it for the 1.5-hour ride to your venue. With everyone else scratching the ground like bulls to do the same thing, it’s easy to adopt the necessary every-man-for-himself attitude. Elderly person or pregnant lady in you way? No problem! School group of 25 about to block your view of a sign in the Forbidden City? Book it through them to the front and receive zero dirty looks!
If I sound crass, let me leave you with this real-world example to illustrate that I’m only slightly kidding here. Outside the back gate of the Forbidden City, there is a nightly pick-up dance party. Someone rolls up with a cart carrying a large speaker on the back and pumps out traditional Chinese tunes, ballroom favorites, and horrendous pop remixes. Locals of every age show up to line dance and twirl each other around under the star (Yes, “star” singular. I’m trying to make it romantic but honestly, you can’t really see anything through the smog). The other evening, a compact car needed to make it’s way from the gate, through the spectacle, and to the street. Instead of creeping around the half of the area filled with spectators, the guy flashed his high beams and gunned it through the dancers, horn blaring. My classmates and I howled with laughter as we jumped from his path, but the joke was on us. The dancers had gracefully waltzed out of the way, not missing a beat, and our fellow onlookers glanced at us like we were the crazy ones. What was so funny?
Check out a video of the dancing, minus the brush with vehicular manslaughter.
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