Why are Chinese people terrible at walking?

theamazingdesigner · 2年前

I tried to ask my wife that question once, she looked at me like I was retarded. Once I explained her she told me I was retarded. She has no fucking idea about spatial awareness.

adgre1 · 2年前

im going to sound like an ass here and i really dont mean this offensively. chinese people suck at walking for the same reason they suck at driving and other things. they are only concerned with themselves. they really about other people existing in their space. its why when you get on a subway or train or off and escalator they just stop where they are. they dont realize there are people behind them that also need in.

they also drive this way. they dont really speed where i live until someone is in front of them. im not talking about someone driving slow in front, but just not being the front drives them crazy. they floor it, pass, and then slow down to the same speed as the guy they just passed.

im not saying chinese people dont care about other or that they are selfish, i genuinely think they just dont realize there are other people sometimes. its all about what they want to do and doing what they can to get to that point. it goes through generations.

fuck those old women who push in front of me in the fruit and veggie aisle with their 60 different apples when im just trying to get a carrot weighed. i love watching older people get pissed when they have to wait in a line somewhere and they try to cut and get denied. it doesnt happen often (the denial) but when it does its just sweet victory.

Cmiao · 2年前

They stop making the squeaky shoes past age 2 sizes.

TheMediumPanda · 2年前

Around here we call it "The Chinese Turn": Someone who abruptly stops for whatever reason on the sidewalk without looking if anyone's behind him, then immediately doubles back, guaranteeing crashing into someone behind them.

There's also the "We're walking here!" of 4-5 friends seemingly doing their utmost to block off every inch of the sidewalk, presumably wanting other people to dive into hedges or heavy traffic. I once bumped the guy on the flank so hard he fell down like a sack of potatoes (was having a bad day) but I quickly apologized and helped him up. Still hope he got the message though.

xijinpimp · 2年前

Well years of training in the Beijing subway has made me into batman

Particularly during the transit from Line 10 to Line 1

Elliott70 · 2年前

Another story about their spatial awareness. In my garden is a seriously massive pool. It is surrounded by a fake sand beach and real palm trees, very nice. Did I mention massive? I go in the mid-morning on my days off, one benefit being many times I am the only person in the pool. However, if a chinese person does decide to brave the sunlight and come to the pool, I can count on them sitting and swimming right up my ass. But the joke is on them, because I enjoy it...

mister_klik · 2年前

It goes back to people living in their own world, not being aware of what's around them.

Here you're talking about etiquette ie: stopping at the exit of escalators, bumping into people. What I find interesting is peoples' physical inability to walk.

Often times I see people (often high school or college aged) walking like they just learned how to do it or like they are carrying an invisible 75 pound pack on their back.

A lot of girls walk like their feet were bounded like great-great grandma.

Very little grace or sense of going somewhere. Like walking in itself is an excruciating chore.

12the3 · 2年前

even if it's just you and one or two other Chinese people in an otherwise empty train station, they'll still manage to somehow bump into you.

oogyboogy2 · 2年前

Profound, psychopathic levels of selfishness.

ColMcCouilles · 2年前

Look at the problem from a different perspective. It's not that they are unaware other people are around them and in motion. It's pretty much that they wouldn't understand why we would get offended by someone blocking our way or bumping into us, as they don't. Lets not forget Chinese people are fatalist, hence they don't see obstacles on their way as much as an irritating matter as we tend to, they rather see a light challenge to deal with. It's not a big deal for them, why should it be for us? Or such can be their perspective on the issue.

[deleted] · 2年前

They spent so much time studying for gaokao, they forgot how to walk.

rockstar10 · 2年前

Smartphones made it even worse esp when changing lines in the subways.

demontaoist · 2年前

Totally offensive, unsubstantiated generalizations:

Girls: "I'm incapable of walking without male assistance! Look at me teeter tottering around like a distressed klutz!"

Middle aged-older women: "I must make myself take up as much space as possible at all times. Under 80 degrees? Gigantic winter coat. Always carry grocery bags, even if empty. Better yet, push an over-loaded cart. Possibly full of empty grocery bags. I always have the right of way, and cannot budge for anything. Ever.

All women: Always have the appearance of shopping. Hold bags as far off to the sides as possible. Girls should leverage the unbalancing effects of dangling a giant shopping bag (with a pair of earrings in it) to be always on the verge of falling over. Older women should pretend grocery bags are hot lava, and must be held as far from their person as possible at all times.

Umbrellas all the fucking time. Rain? Umbrella. Snow? Umbrella. Sunshine? Umbrella. There is no such thing as weather that does not necessitate an umbrella. If one cannot take up as much space as possible with shopping bags, one must carry an umbrella.

Boys: Huh? I'm just standing here, smoking between spitting, watching girls totter by. Why are you acting like this sidewalk is for something other than standing in the middle of while I spit?

Men: Huh? I'm just sitting here, yes right here, smoking while I build up more loogies to hock, exposing my belly and exuding my complete freedom from fucks to give.

All: Never acknowledge or give the impression that people, either walking towards you, or coming from behind, might want to pass. When they do, display bewilderment, or annoyance that your sacred right of way has been sullied. Especially if you had to bend at the waist to allow someone to pass; the greatest insult of all.

[deleted] · 2年前

Also, they scurry like scared rabbits to get out of a bus or a classroom at lunchtime, but as soon as they're out, they waddle around like crippled tortoises and purposely block as much walkway as they can.

damage-sponge · 2年前

On a positive I've actually had occasions where I'm walking down the sidewalk and a couple in front of me is blocking the path. then one of them usually the girl, will grab their partner by the arm pull him out of the way and allow me to pass by :] I'm putting it down to being rather tall and physically casting a ominous shadow over them from behind.

On a negative note, my pet peeve are people hard out pushing past you to get onto the escalator who then proceed to stand on the left side while fiddling on their phone, once they get to the top of the escalator they dismount and stand still while everyone piles up behind them. argh!

Protonoto · 2年前

[deleted]

monkcarryshit · 2年前

In Wuhan I'm convinced people walk like crabs... Always slowly drifting in front of me.

[deleted] · 2年前

You just don't know how to walk Chinese.

theamazingdesigner · 2年前

Lines!!! The concept of lines doesn't exist in China.

deliciouspork · 2年前

Wow, I totally thought it was just me who thought this. When I first came here I noticed people would drift towards me while I'm walking by them. They would just slowly get closer to me as I approached. The weird thing is that I don't think they even saw me coming. It's like they have a natural instinct to cut people off. I just don't get why these people can't walk in a straight line! Why do they need to veer in different directions or abruptly come to a stand still in the middle of transferring in a subway station during rush hour?

jinniu · 2年前

This annoys the shit out of me. Even where I live with a lot of diaspora.

They usually cut you off, stroll in front of you with their hands behind their back as if you weren't there.

whine_and_cheese · 2年前

Don't any of you adopt that Old China Hand voice when confronted with these oiks?

'Come along! Come along! Chop chop for gods sake!'

But yeah, they do have a weird walking habit. They seem to do this weird half-step which makes it impossible to walk behind them. There's this kid who's about 19 in my building - when he walks he drags his feet everywhere. He must go through a pair of fake Nike Airs every two months.

Plowbeast · 2年前

What city are you experiencing this in? I've seen people behaving differently depending on which city you're in, especially as you head south.

mike2cents · 2年前

Poor situational awareness? That's why many people suck at walking and don't move aside.

joshuwas · 2年前

Five years here and I still ask the same questions.

I tend to ascribe to the mass trauma theory: the accumulated psychological insults of the last 100 years (famines, cultural revolution, political re-education, mass migration, massive income gap, ect) have just left many people traumatized, with no means of resolving the issues. There is a back-log of pent up pain and anger that can't be processed because none of this stuff is ever acknowledged or publicly discussed. The only way to deal is to tune out, to numb oneself, and walk through much of life in a zombie like state.

I have to admit though, it is getting better, and tons of people do navigate space in reasonable ways. The issue is that there is a critical mass of ignorance: in any given situation, there always seems to be at least two or three people who will screw things up, even if everyone else is doing there best to make things work. And because humans tend to revert to more primitive instincts under stress, the numbers jump when congestion is at its worst.

Ahf66 · 2年前

Not only do they walk like you described OP, i also find the Chinese here in in the States have a hard time walking. The other evening, i was going to my mailbox in my neighborhood and there was this Chinese couple walking in front of me they took the entire sidewalk and they were slower than the slowest turtles.. i had to go around them on the grass. they didn't even have the common courtesy to do a single file when they see someone coming from behind, and i was sure they knew i was coming.. wtf.

cuplonelynoodles · 2年前

I exactly know what you mean. I also find myself stuck entire behind slow-moving families at crucial junctures like when you're trying to get past the mob of goons outside a station to catch your train on time

GodsDelight · 2年前

The shortest distance between A and B is a straight line. That path shall be the path to be taken.

mindthehead · 2年前

I normally use the bicycle bell. Who cares about their lack of navigation or their lack of spatial awareness. Why waste your precious voice shouting at them. A couple of rings is all you need. Works like a champ, especially when getting off the escalators.

kooldeela · 2年前

Because their pavements are made of gold. Gold and the nightmares of children.

sylkworm · 2年前

Funny. I feel the same way about Americans everytime I'm at Walmart.

miekmende · 2年前

Just yell at them... it's what I do

nmvzciehjfal · 2年前

I find it hard to differentiate between Reddit and Stormfront these days. Is this a serious post?

Rampaging_Bunny · 2年前

hmm, I know what you mean by the etiquette for sure. That of course needs work here. But I always thought the Chinese are very adept at fitting into tight spaces (hah). When walking, they'll bend their bodies in a certain way to avoid a speeding scooter by a mere centimeter.

Or they'll quickly walk between a large group, twisting and turning and bumping their way through, all in the name of speed and efficiency. So I think actually, because of the smaller personal bubbles they put up, they can move more quickly in greater numbers, contorting through traffic jams and slow aunties much quicker than us Western apologists who will quietly sit in line and wait like a sheep - who are the insane ones?

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