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Q: Any situations where not speaking Chinese is helpful?
I'd think not understanding the police would be a big plus.
Sure. Those situations where Chinese strangers are calling you all sorts of nasty names and saying things about you and maybe the people you are with....it's better to not speak (and hopefully not understand) Chinese then. Else, you'll be practicing not understanding Chinese when the police carry you off to jail for smashing those strangers' faces into the pavement.
"I'd think not understanding the police would be a big plus."
sure, but not knowing the law don't let You not to obey, so try not to "overdose" 
generally all situations, where You are ask to do something, that You don't really want to do - it is a good example "when better not to understand"
sometimes it works quite well, and They will not care about You but... when They looks serious - it is better to understand anyway
GuilinRaf:
My rule of thumb:
Any man (or woman) in a uniform who starts to yell at me, I STOP! I do not wish to experience what Rodney King did....
For the most part, I agree with what has been posted above, especially the snide remarks and rude comments.
A beautiful young lady comes over and wants to rip you off;
Lady:shuai ge, wo yao.......(baby,i want to ......)
No response from you and don't know what she says.
Lady:shuai ge ge,wo zhen de yao.....(baby,i really want to......)
Still no response from you.
The lady goes away in disappointment." yun qi zhen ta ma cha,lao niang gang chu shou jiu peng dao ge tong xing lian.(Fuck!Come across a homosexual the first time i do business. "
I pretend not to understand Chinese a lot for 2 reasons.
1) I REALLY don't understand all that much.
2) In business discussions, it is better sometimes to play the dumb laowai and just listen to what they are saying when they don't think you understand. (I also do the same thing to my office staff.)
Definitely!
When your wife or girlfriend tells you to be home at six and no stopping at the bar for drinks with friends, definitely, ignorance is bliss! And if she says it in english? "Oh sorry honey, I misunderstood. Maybe you need to practice more...?
Going shopping and all the shop assistants run away when you start speaking English.
I found I can do things or go places i shouldn't be, because the guard or police just didn't bother me. They knew they could not talk to me and just left me alone.
