How to be civilized hosts of Beijing Olympics?

How to be civilized hosts of Beijing Olympics?
Jul 14, 2008 17:56	#11
WCTMAN Points: Join Date: Dec 17, 2005 Status: Offline	I am not too optomistic that visitors will remember a polite, neat people in Beijing. In my experience, the Chinese ARE very polite and very gracious in private social settings, such as their homes, or in business settings such as their office or classroom. I have nothing but good things to say about these wonderful people in these situations. But, put these same people in public situations, and a lifetime of conditioned behavior takes over. For example, it seems to me that the mindset is that the next bus they see is the last bus they will ever see, or the last elevator, or that the school cafeteria has enough food for one more person, and that person had better be them. Simply put, this culture has no concept at all of what it is to wait your turn. The Chinese have no public patience. Of course, this behaviour comes from a lifetime of being in large crowds, something most foreigners have little or no experience with. I have a sinking feeling that when Oly Games visitors are asked back home what they thought of their trip to China, they will spend a moment or two describing the event they witnessed, and then they will regale their friends at length with all kinds of " you wouldn't believe what i saw waiting for a ..." story. And, we haven't even mentioned the public spitting, or the public urination...

Jul 14, 2008 17:56

#11

WCTMAN
Points:
Join Date: Dec 17, 2005
Status: Offline

I am not too optomistic that visitors will remember a polite, neat people in Beijing. In my experience, the Chinese ARE very polite and very gracious in private social settings, such as their homes, or in business settings such as their office or classroom. I have nothing but good things to say about these wonderful people in these situations. But, put these same people in public situations, and a lifetime of conditioned behavior takes over. For example, it seems to me that the mindset is that the next bus they see is the last bus they will ever see, or the last elevator, or that the school cafeteria has enough food for one more person, and that person had better be them. Simply put, this culture has no concept at all of what it is to wait your turn. The Chinese have no public patience. Of course, this behaviour comes from a lifetime of being in large crowds, something most foreigners have little or no experience with.

I have a sinking feeling that when Oly Games visitors are asked back home what they thought of their trip to China, they will spend a moment or two describing the event they witnessed, and then they will regale their friends at length with all kinds of " you wouldn't believe what i saw waiting for a ..." story. And, we haven't even mentioned the public spitting, or the public urination...

Jul 14, 2008 18:37

#12

MARRIE
Points:
Join Date: Jan 7, 2008
Status: Offline

''The Chinese have no public patience. Of course, this behaviour comes from a lifetime of being in large crowds, something most foreigners have little or no experience with. ''

WCMAN, that's one of main reasons new generation of chinese immigrants enjoy overseas life even if it's tough sometimes. And I hear that in addtion to population density, competition density in today's china 2 folds or even more in comparision to the developed society

Jul 15, 2008 11:49	#13
SETH Points: Join Date: Feb 22, 2008 Status: Offline	I think the 10 items listed in this thread would be good advice to any country and any group of people. It should be interesting to see how the Beijing Olympics are conducted and how people act, including foreigners.

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