I love China, I adore the Chinese, but something about travel brings out the worst in these people. Getting on an off any kind of long haul transportation, be it train, bus or plane, is like a scene out of War of the Worlds. It is every man for himself, no matter whether you have a reserved seat or not, you MUST be the first person to board and get in your seat so you can sit there, smugly surveying the other, lesser passengers as they follow behind you.
The Chinese are not Japan or Korea; countries that politely queue as they wait for the subway, and that will scowl at you for talking on your mobile on the commute into work. A lot of the social structure and levels of respect that still reign true for their Eastern neighbours were stripped away during the cultural revolution. The Chinese will spit in the street, yell down the phone on the bus and barge you out of the way boarding the subway quite happily, and when you gently remind them of the social norms adhered to throughout the rest of the world, "There is a queue you know." They will do little more than say, "Oh," look back at the people they just jostled past with a huge grin, and then stand as still as a rock, facing forward, as if we will not notice them if they stop moving.
Okay, I appreciate this is not a purely Chinese phenomenon, these dog farts exist throughout the world, it is just a high proportion of those dog farts live here. And it is definitely not the minority who thunder towards the still moving bus like a tsunami as it pulls into its stop.
I am British. I am appalled when the world's most democratic symbol, the queue, is thrown out of the window.
So if you ever come here, just consider yourself warned, travel with a crash helmet and a bucket full of patience.
The Great Book of Chinglish, Entry 1.
Dangers
Chinese Root/ 当然 ， Dāngrán
Meaning/ "Of course", "Obviously"
Use/
Mary: If someone pushed in front of me in the queue for the subway, would you punch his lights out for me?
Da pi: Dangers!
