The place to ask China-related questions!
Beijing Shanghai Guangzhou Shenzhen Chengdu Xi'an Hangzhou Qingdao Dalian Suzhou Nanjing More Cities>>

Categories

Close
Welcome to eChinacities Answers! Please or register if you wish to join conversations or ask questions relating to life in China. For help, click here.
X

Verify email

Your verification code has been sent to:

Didn`t receive your code? Resend code

By continuing you agree to eChinacities's Privacy Policy .

Sign up with Google Sign up with Facebook
Sign up with Email Already have an account? .
Posts: 37

Governor

5
5
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Q: Is it just me or do you find that most Chinese people can't walk straight?

When walking along the street or subway station trying to pass people... they walk from side to side rather than in a straight line.. (even when not on the phone)

It must add a lot of time and extra steps to their day.. !

 

Is it just me? or do you see the same?

9 years 7 weeks ago in  General  - China

 
Highest Voted
Posts: 1876

Emperor

5
5
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

That's why they should play defensive line in the NFL...nothing and no one would get past them.

Sinobear:

It's ironic, too, that pathways are curved because Chinese ghosts can ONLY walk in straight lines.

9 years 7 weeks ago
Report Abuse
Report Abuse
9 years 7 weeks ago
 
Answers (16)
Comments (6)
Posts: 1876

Emperor

5
5
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

That's why they should play defensive line in the NFL...nothing and no one would get past them.

Sinobear:

It's ironic, too, that pathways are curved because Chinese ghosts can ONLY walk in straight lines.

9 years 7 weeks ago
Report Abuse
Report Abuse
9 years 7 weeks ago
 
Posts: 1059

Shifu

1
1
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

I find that no one moves out of the way,if i hold my line and not move out of the way then they dont move either.

Report Abuse
9 years 7 weeks ago
 
Posts: 3868

Emperor

4
4
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

I've noticed that & it's a minor annoyance of mine. It's even worse when they are walking towards you. I look ahead & decide when way I'm going to walk past them & then they veer sideways into my path! I've stopped getting out of the way now...I just carry on walking straight until they realise at the last minute & step to one side. 

Report Abuse
9 years 7 weeks ago
 
Posts: 1282

Governor

4
4
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

I see the same,sometimes like 3 or 5 girls walking in the same line (side to side)which makes me difficult to walk on the road with them ahead.

I am annoyed by this usually.I don't do that.indecision

My most unpleasant moment everyday would be seeing people spitting in the street on West Nanjing Road of Shanghai.

And people push hard to get in subway without caring if they could injure others.

I was pissed off by the spitting,pushing and sometimes side to side walking.I sometimes would tell them to behave when I saw those.

Report Abuse
9 years 7 weeks ago
 
Posts: 4495

Emperor

4
4
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

It's the norm here.  I've asked myself why a thousand times.  It remains in the category of things I just can't figure out:

    ˚ super loud talking

   ˚ pushing on transpo b4 others exit

   ˚ hacking/spitting/blowing nose so publicly

   ˚ shirt up over belly  /  trouser legs rolled up

 

I have elbowed many pedestrians in fair china....  the funny look on their face is worth it.  sometimes the only way some people can learn is by the tuff way.  yep, I was in the Army when I was a young man.

Report Abuse
9 years 7 weeks ago
 
Posts: 2531

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Yes, I do. 

 

I noticed that as well since I got here that they walk in zig-zags and can't seem to follow one straight path. Of course when they bump into you, it is your fault... somehow. 

 

I don't know why... its inexplicable... even herded animals can walk straight. Something to do with many years of squatting/hunkering down...? 

 

 

Report Abuse
9 years 7 weeks ago
 
Posts: 3494

Emperor

1
1
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

It's a fact.  Part of my daily routine involves looking down from my 7th floor kitchen window at all the people walking to and fro.  The footpath below is quite wide and this doesn't help them at all.  They wander left, they wander right.  Just can't keep going forward in a straight line.

I usually do this while I'm making a coffee and it often coincides with the business directly underneath doing their morning lecture and exercises to the loud sounds of crappy dance music, while the walkers blunder along the footpath trying to avoid them.  Could be K-pop music they're dancing to...I know that that's popular these days.

Anyway, it's really funny....the lead person stands out the front of the line of workers jumping around and flailing her arms about and the others all follow suit.  Usually lasts for about 10 minutes.

The place is a car washing joint and some of the staff are big, strong (fat) blokes and watching them try on this poofy dance every morning really does start my day off well.

I'm certain that they don't have a say in whether or not they participate.

After the music stops the leader stands out in front of them and yells and screams for about 5 minutes while they all stand to attention.  

My wife has told me he's encouraging them to provide an excellent service the their customers throughout the day.

When the lecture is over I watch all the staff loll about talking and playing on their phones.

This goes on every morning, even in the ice and snow.

 

Report Abuse
9 years 7 weeks ago
 
Posts: 3269

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Insecurity? Indecisiveness? Trying to be inconspicuous?

It's not too much of a problem in small cities; their pace is generally slower and easier to anticipate.

Report Abuse
9 years 7 weeks ago
 
Posts: 177

Governor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

"Walk like falling leaves" or something along those lines.

*Also the shirt over the belly thing. Could be BS but a student once told me its because its illegal to take your shirt off in the city, so to cool down they roll it up but still keep the shirt on....Plausable?

royceH:

Nah...they don't give a toss about any other law in China so why would they in this case.  They do it in an attempt to pick up chicks.

 

9 years 7 weeks ago
Report Abuse
Report Abuse
9 years 7 weeks ago
 
Posts: 7178

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Its a spatial awareness thing.

BlightyMatt:

Spatial Awareness...yup.

Its another strange thing about China. You'd think that with so many people milling about that spatial awareness would be an inherent trait in Chinese society, like swarms of bees or sardines. But no....

Also queuing. So many people then why not perhaps get organised and then everything will work smoothly....but no.

I guess it's just our evil western logic at work....

9 years 7 weeks ago
Report Abuse

ScotsAlan:

It comes down to education as a toddler.  My MIL leaves the apartment, leans over the flower bed by the front door and has a nice spit.  My 3 year old daughter now copies her. My MIL tells her not to, but the MIL carries on doing it.  Going into the elevator I teach my daughter to wait, my MIL barges in.  Waiting to be served in a shop, I ask my wife to wait. But her instinct is to barge in.  My daughter copies her.  When my daughter is with me she stops at the side of the road. When she is with Chinese family she tells them to stop but they don't.

9 years 7 weeks ago
Report Abuse
Report Abuse
9 years 7 weeks ago
 
Posts: 860

Shifu

2
2
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

When I went out jogging I found they kaimikazed into my path. i ve had a few collisions. most difficult country to jog in i ve ever been in. i think its to do with being in a country of1.3 billion you cannot give way whatever the cost. or it could just be really bad spatiial awareness

Report Abuse
9 years 7 weeks ago
 
Posts: 5732

Emperor

2
2
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

they really do need to learn in school how to walk straight, because when the crazy fools get in a car they drive the same way they walk. even a good driver will weave back and forth in a single lane like driving straight will get them the firing squad or worse.

Report Abuse
9 years 7 weeks ago
 
Posts: 9631

Emperor

1
1
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Once many years ago, I was crossing a big cobblestone square in the center of a European capital. In doing so, I fell on my arse. Naturally, the reason for this was that I was blitzed, this was after a day of heavy drinking, no one knows how much. Anyway, that is the only time I have fallen since childhood. 

I've several times witness people fall on they buttocks in China, or face. It's just a way of life for the Chinese. 

Scandinavian:

it is actually as mentioned above a side effect of Chinese parenting. Because the little once are not allowed to do anything, they don't develop a good sense of balance and the brain gets less training in controlling the extremities. Read up on the latest in baby training and you will see the importance of not being Chinese when parenting. !

9 years 7 weeks ago
Report Abuse

ScotsAlan:

"The importance of not being Chinese when parenting"... thats gone in my little book. How to say that in Chinese :-)

9 years 7 weeks ago
Report Abuse
Report Abuse
9 years 7 weeks ago
 
Posts: 421

Governor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

It's not you.  They're like drunk sailors.

Report Abuse
9 years 7 weeks ago
 
Posts: 2578

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

getting slapped "upside the head" as a kid...  on the ear, may just alter the usefulness of that equilibrium bubble in their heads. that's the staggering.

the loud talking may also be a piece of this "slap in the head".

hearing should be checked for free in China.... maybe some abuse going unreported here.

Could that be possible?

could be onto something here, I think. Don't smack your kids "upside the head"

 

Report Abuse
9 years 7 weeks ago
 
Posts: 458

Shifu

2
2
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Yup, they walk like idiots, and then they decide to stand still in the places where other people are most likely to want to move (right in door entrances, blocking elevators, exc). It's part of the me-me-me culture. There is just no awareness of other people at all.

Report Abuse
9 years 7 weeks ago
 
Know the answer ?
Please or register to post answer.

Report Abuse

Security Code: * Enter the text diplayed in the box below
Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <img> <br> <p> <u>
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Textual smileys will be replaced with graphical ones.

More information about formatting options

Forward Question

Answer of the DayMORE >>
A:  "... through ..."?  Only "through" comes to mind is "S
A: "... through ..."?  Only "through" comes to mind is "Shenzhen agent can connect you with an employer, who's authorized to hire waigouren ... and can sponsor Z visa." It's not like every 10th person you meet in Shenzhen's hood can sponsor work visa ...  The only way to change from student to labourer visa is just a regular way by: 1. Finding an employer, who'll apply for an Invitation letter; 2. Exit China and apply for Z visa in your home country's Chinese embassy; 3. Enter China in 30-days after Z visa was stamped into your travelling instrument ...As I am aware, you won't be able to switch to Working permit by remaining in China....,so make ready for a return to your home .... -- icnif77