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Q: What do you do when China pushes you over the edge?
I spent about a minute beating a man into submission on the sidewalk today- in full-view of an onlooking crowd in Tianhe Guangzhou.
I'm usually a very cool, calm, and level-headed person, but I lost it today. The man that I beat had the audacity to ride a motorized bicycle on a severely crowded sidewalk during noon rush. He crashed directly into me when I clearly had the right of way. I saw him coming, but those motorized bikes can be quite quick, I had little time to avoid the inevitable. I was knocked on the ground with a nearly 15cm long slash across my left forearm. He didn't fall down. What enraged me was the man stopped his bike, looked back at me, and said 'fuck you.' IN BROKEN ENGLISH.
I bolted up, rushed over, shoved the guy off his bike, and beat him till he was unconscious. And then I fled the scene quickly. I'm on the train back to Kowloon now, so the chance of getting caught is minimal. I hope.
Has anyone else ever just flew into a rage like that?
Once,
Was ith my ex and she got in a dispute with our taxi driver. He called her a foreigner *ucking whore. I lost it and got out to kill him, he knew what was coming and just ran away, left his taxi there.
So i destroyed it. Punched through every window, kicked off every mirror, every light, every fender. And i didnt stop. When the cops came I was standing on the hood stomping in the windshield and my girl just stood there quietly haha
spent a night in jail for that one.
MasqueX:
What happened to the taxi and the driver? What did the police say when you got out of jail?
mike695ca:
Nothing! Theu asked for like 30 000 settlement, i said deport me and call the embassy. They asked 10 000 i said deport me and call the embassy. Round and round we went. I refused to pay on principle. Cops where nice about it. And theu claimed they understood where i was coming from. But , i still destroyed his car. Say anything do nothing they said.But i remained all night refusing to sign shit. They finally gave up and werent gonna deport me. So i negotiated down to 200 kuai and was released. You should have seen the look on the taxi drivers face when they told him he was only getting 200. I laughed my ass off.
expatlife26:
Cops know theres a lot of a trash here too, not all of them are gonna be pieces of shit. Glad they were willing to be reasonable with you.
That was in Guangzhou right?
mike695ca:
Nope, i was living in GZ at the time, but it happened in Dongguan. But ive never had an issue with police in Guangzhou. They have always been courteous and professional to me.
In a crowded area, at noon, in Guangzhou, no crowd gathered around you ?! Hum...
In the same situation I would have been enraged, but beating a guy until is unconscious, it's a fine line I can't cross even in berserk mode. Who knows his health, and the seriousness of the wound you gave him... A broken rib can have a lot of consequences beyond the pain. I would have punched the guy in the stomach, it's painful, it's relatively safe and it buys you one minute of peace. Then, I would take the key of his bike, and ask him, very quietly, why he insulted me. If a crowd gather, I just leave, with the key of the bike.
expatlife26:
Im not sure about that story either.
Feel free to correct me but I dont think Masque has said anything about living in Hong Kong before.
So what they lost their temper and fled to Hong Kong?
It sounds too much like a tough-guy revenge fantasy.
DrMonkey:
@expatlife26 Yep. No massive crowd massing around, fat chances. Who knows, it might be in the news after it pop-up on Weibo. On the Intertubes, impossible to know if dooshlikov478 is a hot tanned blond with huge boobs or a hairy overweight weirdo in mommy's basement.
expatlife26:
Yeah, I know Tianhe is the nice part of Guangzhou and probably not full of disenfranchised losers spoiling to jump a white person. But that would probably attract a crowd no question. If that's true it probably would end up on Weibo with somebody that's seen him at his work blowing the whistle on him.
That's not a China corruption thing either...somebody hits you by accident and you beat them unconscious you should be going to jail in any country even if they are rude about it. You call the police and demand a settlement...you don't whale on the guy. Maybe just try and detain him like take his keys until the cops show up.
Another one I find questionable posting right now is Noel05...that one about learning to speak chinese JUST to get a girlfriend? The way that was written didn't seem natural at all.
DrMonkey:
There's a fine line with witch-hunting ^^ My initial motivations to learn Vietnamese (I was 21) were largely fueled by my late teenage fantasies "hooo, exotic beauty from far away idealized land". After one year of class and a trip in Vietnam, I grew up and my motivation changed accordingly. Crazy stuffs happen, even the least likely things. So, well, wait and see ^^
expatlife26:
If we don't ferret out the witches they are going to weasel away unscathed. They'll be outta here faster than a polecat in a mink coat.
Stoat.
Scandinavian:
yup. I am with the Monkey here. Why beat people unconscious when you can pin them to the ground and jab at their testicles continuously ? but why resort to violence in the first place. Phone out, picture of the guy, go to the police. Of course they will do nothing, but hey, then you could also post his picture on some relevant web site.
So you live in Kowloon/Hong Kong?
Those places are nice...what are you doing in the Mainland then?
Good for you. Unfortunately, Chinese will play dead real fast. If you just wailed on him until he felt the need to feign unconsciousness, he still didn't get what he deserved. You should've kept going till he felt the need to drop the pretence.
DrMonkey:
Yeah, right. With an angry crowd forming around you, and filming it. Brilliant idea. What could possibly go wrong ? A month or two ago, I think it was 5 chengguan who were beaten by a crowd, after the chengguans themselves beat a guy unconsciously.
expatlife26:
Yeah it's one thing to talk about that on the internet and get all worked up about it.
It's another to be facing serious jail time for losing your temper.
Best solution: Avoid bad situations.
coineineagh:
I'm sure I'm not the only expat who dreams of a situation where the most ignorant chinkinese imaginable attacks and insults you, and you have an opportunity for a bit of payback before you get away scot free. We're talking payback for years of stupid insults by all the local Chinese, for which a single person must bear the brunt. We must also bear it alone, so it's fair.
DrMonkey:
@coineineagh Honestly, the paranoid part of me thinks that you just bitten the bone that someone hoped you would bite.
coineineagh:
So, MasqueX might be a wumao, baiting us into using offensive words? Whooptiedoo. If he needs it to convince his buddies to come after me, by all means come. Nuofumen.
expatlife26:
You don't though...you don't have to bear it. I'm telling you, friend.
I don't deal with any of that shit...and it's not because i'm lucky or rich or anything. It's just good planning and prioritizing sanity.
1. I live in a place where I don't stand out for being white
2. I don't think about dumbass locals. If they are talking shit, I really just don't even notice they're just background.
You can get yourself in a place where it's not an issue for you...it'll cost more and you'll have to work more hours but if you're getting this angry that you feel that way it's probably just what the doctor ordered.
Chin up dude, it doesn't have to be this hard.
coineineagh:
Expatlife26, there's one thing you didn't consider. I'm a 1m95 Scotsman. I'm not violent because of stress; I revel at the thought of a well-deserved whalloping. Recently, a colleague got her iPhone stolen, and the fence was harassing her with calls to get her iPhone code. I picked up the phone and called him a xiao nuofu (little coward), and told her that if she ever finds him, I'll gladly help her BF kick his scrawny ass. I said: "It'll be fun." as I'm sure it will be. Maybe I'm all talk, so don't mind me.
expatlife26:
hahahaha when I read 1m95 I first thought 1 Meter and 95 KG
I was picturing this really short and morbidly obese scotsman
Barely ambulatory but always ready for a row!
Better to be 1.95M
MasqueX:
If I'm a wumao then China should be just about ready to start claiming the exclusive rights to every human achievement known to man within the next few weeks (as per my reply to a recent thread about the desire to work as a wumao).
Beyond that, all I can say is that I only have the balls to beat someone senseless in the mainland. My primary office and lab are here in HK. I'd be scared-to-death to commit such an act here- the cops would be busting my door down! That being said, that's my first fight in.. 2 years. The last one was in a bar in Hunan, and.. that's another story. hehe.
coineineagh:
i'm more than 95kg now. just reached 100 on the scales. it's mostly belly weight, i'm afraid. one upside to not being overly muscular, is that i'm less likely to bleed to death if i get stabbed in the arm!
expatlife26:
You know that's a shame I really thought it would be cool to have you as a 1 meter tall, 95KG scottish stereotype.
I spent 15 days in jail once. It was for the most unjust, backwards reason I've ever heard of. The first night, I was really really angry. The second night, I was just thinking of how many ways I can get revenge. But after a couple of days, I began thinking more constructively. I began to ponder the possible reasons Chinese society works this way. I even wrote a sort of mini-thesis. It was like medicine for my soul. Anger without purpose is worthless and harmful. When I was released, I was as calm as a cat.
xinyuren:
I received a rude knock on my door one morning. It was my painter coming for "business negotiations". He suddenly wasn't satisfied with his payment agreement after he ruined the woodwork in my living room. He was demanding more money. I thought we had already settled this, but this is China... negotiation is done by bullying, not by reasonable conversation.
The knocking progressed to pounding and finally the breaking of the locking and handle apparatus on my door. I called the police. They came and announced to me through the door that I owe him money and that's why he broke my door. They sent them away and did nothing. I replaced the broken parts on my door.
The next morning they came back, pounding away. I called the police again. After much screaming and yelling on their part , my painter and parents (yes, he brought his aged parents to bully me!) were sent away.
On the third morning, more pounding. My wife and baby were terrified by now. Again we called the police. They called us out to talk with them. This "talk" consisted of much yelling and threatening by two old people (the painter's parents). It was really ridiculous and since I couldn't get a word in edgewise, I just calmly watched them. I tried to tell the police we need protection, but they just dismissed my complaints and told me to pay them the money (they never even listened to my side).
Suddenly, the painter arrived with anger in his eyes. He violently grabbed my wife's arm and pulled her. My wife was carrying my baby. That's when I lost it. I threw myself at the coward. 2 policemen couldn't keep me off him. And while I was pounding the painter, his father also grabbed my wife and baby and began dragging her out of the house and into the hallway elevator! When I heard her scream, I ran to the old man and knocked him out with one punch.
Final verdict: They went to the hospital. I went to jail. The police say I don't have the right to defend my family. And an old man over 60 can do what he wants with impunity. It's in the law. That's why the painter sent his parents to do his dirty work. This is China.
expatlife26:
That's a terrible story. Well, I mean it's good as a story because it was interesting to read.
But that's pretty terrible to have happened. All the more reason why i just refuse to interact with these people if at all possible.
How did the jail stint affect your visa status? Were you employed at the time? Was deportation ever on the table?
Again my sympathy for having to go through that.
xinyuren:
The visa story is interesting. Although I don't work, I have a residence spousal visa. The original charge was the equivalent of a misdemeanor charge in America (punching an elderly person). It was to have no real affect on my stay here in China. But.... they originally thought I would pay up to stay out of jail, but I didn't. So they had to trump up a more serious charge to force me to bargain (causing an injury of more than 4.5cm in diameter... seriously). They claimed the wound I caused was 4.6cm (what a coincidence!) Still, I was not prone to budge were it not for my family. According to the lawyers I talked to, there is no law on the books against extortion or bullying. My god, what a country. I gave in and paid the money and they dropped the serious charges. It shouldn't affect my visa, but that remains to be seen.
Sinobear:
Holy crap...I think that's the most BCD story I've ever heard!
I hope all will be well for you and your family.
xinyuren:
Thanks for your thoughts. We are ok. When I got back home (we're in Jiangxi), my wife gave me the news that we have another bun in the oven, so it ended on a good note. It was surely a BCW or BCF (fortnight?), but above all it was a learning experience. I didn't enjoy my time in jail, but I came to China for such experiences.
Hulk:
xinyuren,
You did the right thing. I would've done the same, and I have. Good on you for protecting your family.
JacobJohn:
admirable, xinyuren, given the fact that you may have been right, yet still find the way to balance yourself in such unfair and mostly humiliating situation. I know what this is like, so I am glad you did so.
I am a calm guy, but China is the only place I have ever physically put my hands on somebody who was not one of my brothers. I was walking down a hall one time when a young boy yelled at me "F*** you." I ran over to him and put my hands on his neck and I asked him to repeat what he said. I then let him go after which he ran off.
To this day I am surprised I did something like that. And I do not think I will ever do it again for it is against my nature.
Everything else, I take a long walk or I drink a glass of green tea or Tulsi tea. Both have chemicals in them that calm you down really well.
I am a calm guy, but China is the only place I have ever physically put my hands on somebody who was not one of my brothers. I was walking down a hall one time when a young boy yelled at me "F*** you." I ran over to him and put my hands on his neck and I asked him to repeat what he said. I then let him go after which he ran off.
To this day I am surprised I did something like that. And I do not think I will ever do it again for it is against my nature.
Everything else, I take a long walk or I drink a glass of green tea or Tulsi tea. Both have chemicals in them that calm you down really well.
xinyuren:
I'm like this too. Before China, I never hit anyone since I was in grade school. But then again, I never had a family before China. Anyone who puts their hands on my family will quickly find fists all over them. It's amazing the things I can do when my girls are involved.
One time in Hunan, I was hit over the head and feigned unconsciousness. I had my hands tied up and I was about to be thrown in a river by 4 Chinese dudes.
Take a wild guess what happened. That's all I'll say.
Lord_hanson:
You got angry, transformed into a green monster. The bonds that bound you burst freeing your bulging arms. You smashed the 4 fiends then as you calmed slowly transformed back into your usual self. Was I right?
I have been here for many years and China don't push me over the edge, China don't change me, China don't take away my soul, you guys should not put aside your own values, you shouldn't feel like you have to fit in, be proud of your differences and laugh at locals when they are staring at you because of your differences. When Chinese immigrate to Western countries they don't try to integrate, they stick to their own kind, speak Chinese, eat Chinese, and avoid White/Black/Arab/Other Asian peoples.
China is not and will never be your country, as other Asian countries (with the exceptions of Singapore and the Philippines) they will never deliver the citizenship to non-natives even in 50 years from now, so don't get pissed over little things, even if yes I sometimes also want to beat the crap out of peoples urinating in malls or spitting in restaurants.
While I often get super annoyed about stuff here, I would never beat or harm anyone unless my own life, or the life of someone close to me was in danger. And that scares me because if it'd ever came down to that I know I would never get a just and fair treatment here.
The best course of action? Spit in their face. I know. Its deplorable. But its was the only thing I can think of to do. And its my new move. Ive done it on 4 different occasions and it always works out great.
When I was in jail, they kept saying. Say anything Do nothing. And it drove me crazy that you can walk around calling people anything you want and not have to face the music. They said clearly, if you touched him, i would be in deeeeep shit. The only reason is i could go free was because I didnt cause him any bodily harm. And destroying his taxi did nothing. But my god did it make me feel great. I wasnt nervous in jail at all. I felt... free! It was exhilerating. And thats when I realized. Its not what you do to get revenge. The only thing that matters is that they are more mad then you. Once they have lost it. Your not angry anymore. Your happy. And whatever they did is no longer important. But if you cant smash them??? What do you do??? Loogie in their face!!!! Ill never forget losing my loogie virginity.
In a parking garage line waiting to go in, and some dick drove up on the side walk and blocked us and cut in front. My girl was pissed, so she got out, knocked on his window and just asked him why he thought he was so important. He told her to fuck off and rolled the window up in her face. I lost it , got out, opened his door, and tried to pull him out. He wouldnt budge, just tried to close the door. ( his gf was in the car...hot!) Anyways, In the back of my mind , im screaming DONT HIT HIM! dONT HIT HIM! LET HIM HIT YOU FIRST! Well he obviously wasnt going to hit me first and I was in beast mode, so i cocked back and unleashed the biggest wad of green spit i could on his face. It was glorious.
Now im ready, thinking hes going to get out and hit me, this is perfect! Except, he didnt, he looked sad, and wiped the loogie off his face, closed the door and drove away. Fuck he must have been emasculated. His hot chick was right there! No way he was ever getting vagina again. .....And it hit me.. I wasnt pissed off anymore! I felt fucking great! No chance for deportation and he is going to remember that day with shame for forever.
Ive done it three more times since, they definatly deserved it every time. And every single time it has worked out great. They were furious but couldnt fuck with me, if they did swing at me? awsome! and I was happier than a pig in shit.
It take balls to loogie in someones face that first time. But Once you get going, man its hard to stop!
Yet
I always wondered what I would do if they spit back...........
iWolf:
Seriously? You get agro about parking?? From what you have written, it appears that you have some aggression issues.
Perhaps you should look at some anger management courses, tai chi or something like that.
Eorthisio:
Good move, I can't stand those locals thinking that they are gods.
mike695ca:
@iwolf haha while its true i might have agression issues. I definatly did NOT go crazy over someone cutting me off. But i do take offense to people disrespecting my wife while im right there. I am ten times more likely to go mental on someone when she is involved rather than just disrespecting me.
Robk:
That's weird, I would assume you would try to spit back... since they spit on the sidewalks all the time anyway...
None of them even tried to spit or fight back? They just get scared and run off?
mike695ca:
Seriously. No one has ever done a thing. One time he walked about 150meters away then started yelling at me. But i wasnt angry anymore. Nothing he could say would make me angry. So i just left laughing. I know one day someone will swing at me but thays cool. Gives me my excuse. Im now like an american soldier in modern movies. Sit there and do nothing untill people fire shots at you. Then you can fire back.
I try my best to be calm, even though I know I could destroy them.
In fact, that is the reason I do my best to stay calm. Because of my military and martial arts training... if I lose it... I think it would be less K.O. for them and more... fighting for their lives in the hospital.
If someone knocked me down and said "Fuck You"... that would be a hard one to hold back. Touching my wife... I would lose it.
In fact, that situation came close a few times. Some fat clerk yelled at my wife, I rushed into the shop and started tossing the place... for some reason he took out his wallet to give me money... (WTF)... my wife grabbed my arm and pulled me out. Really big guy too, like 300+ pounds.
One time my wife got into a fight with a restaurant owner. I was there while they shouted and one women grabbed a bottle from the case and held like she was going to hit my wife. I snatched it out of her hand like I would a baby. They just pretended I wasn't there lol. Then things got a little physical with the women, and I let my wife get a few shots in then I jumped in between them and pulled her away... she was freaking out hahaha..
Another time, I already mentioned that I pushed a security guard across the room for grabbing my arm. Nothing happened.
Many times I wanted to beat the crap out of someone... but that's all it would be. Some idiot getting pummeled and I get punished for it... well I think with my guanxi I could get away with it but I do my best to let it slide.
I think Mike's way of spitting at them or embarrassing them in Chinese would just be best or just brushing it off. Most Chinese slap and smack as opposed to strike, smash and toss around lol. It's like beating up an idiot drunk guy...
China has never made me totally lose it. The military was still a lot worse and martial arts really helped to keep my inner calm. These pansies can do and say what they want... if they want to get physical... I am all for it! I will hold my mobile phone and video it with one hand while beating them senseless with the other. Got to cover my ass!
Why are you guys all so agressive?
I have managed to stay out of fights for all my adult life.
Probably because I am a coward 
.
Lol, I remember one time, I was in the Cave in GZ. I was at at the bar on my own, and some young loaded dude sat beside me with his entourage. This guy looked me in the face, leaned over and helped himself to one of my smokes, blowing the smoke in my face as he lit it.
I leaned over, took a bottle of beer from his bucket, uncapped it and " gan bei'd" him. I then put my packet of smokes on the table between us, motioning him to help himself. He put the bucket of beer between us. A good night was had by all.
I think we ended up playing dice and sharing one of those water pipe things 
I think it's been over 15 years since I ever felt I wanted to hit anyone.
royceH:
Billy Jack was a most reluctant participant in violence and I've always tried to live the same way.
I tip my lid to you Scotty.
Lots of things in China piss me off but I haven't yet been moved to an aggressive stance.
Lucky, I guess.
royceH:
Har....yes, perhaps. This forum allows me to unleash my beast. Can you believe how lucky I am....my wife is so wonderful. I'm a very lucky bastard.
Come visit Scotsman...but be afraid....be very afraid...I'm in XINJIANG!
I remember a great pacer from the '80s named The Scotsman.
Embarrass the hell out of them. Do it so well that they run away because they've lost so much face.
You need to get your road rage under control.
Fuck You doesn't have the same meaning to Chinese as it does to us. To them, it is just something you say when you're angry. To them, it's not intended as an insult. They learn their definition of "fuck you" from the movies that teaches the Chinese that whenever you're angry, you need to walk around like a doofus and say "fuck you" to everybody. So the definition of "fuck you" to Chinese is "I'm angry". Nothing more and nothing less.
Also those scooters have the same brakes as bicycles do and they're a lot heavier. Which means they really can't stop very well at all. Not sure if you're aware or not, but if he is on a path and you pull in front of him and suddenly stop, you can cause an accident because he can't stop as fast as you can.
To be honest, you'll probably be deported and rightfully so. Hopefully you'll learn to be a better person and more accepting of others.. And get that anger under control. You only live one life, spending any time at all getting angry over anything is just a waste of a part of your life.
Getting angry because some Chinese that doesn't understand the meaning of "fuck you", and said it to you, is ridiculous and totally uncalled for. You need to get that anger under control before you get yourself into trouble if you haven't already.
If I were you, I'd turn myself in. Don't be a coward. Face your punishment for the crimes you've committed.
The great irony is that you beat somebody up just because they said "I'm angry."... When it was clearly you yourself that was more angry. So maybe you should go beat yourself up for the fun of it?
I down vote you not because your anger would not be reasonable enough but because the lesson you're giving me lacks the real need for real answers in this weird Chinese anti matter society. It's helpless and useless. If I need to behave like you did, I just watch movies.
I don't blame you, but I welcome any other attitudes that would show me it is possible to behave wisely and calmly. You see, it's just a matter of miracle that anyone that is not a Chinese, be able to behave by the rules of thoughts and reason, hence moral values, better than a Chinese, with a sense of calm. If you behaved calmly, I would have started to believe that in China, it is possible indeed such amazing miracle. For now, you proved brave enough to do your justice then run away. I personally cannot learn anything from you, just now and I am so sorry for myself and for you. I am sorry that you've been in such situation.
Somehow, this will come back. Somehow you will find yourself in a similar situation. I hope you don't count again on running away, only because once, it worked. I wish you didn't run, and bravely face it. At least to the mistake of hitting that guy you would have given us the lesson of facing the consequences of your actions.
Let us know when you know of any better lesson. I am willing to learn from your experience. Thanks for sharing.
