What makes you feel uncomfortable in China?

[MPhillips]

Speaking of escalators, I think I rode what was quite possibly the first escalator ever on the Mainland, in a fancy new hotel in Guangzhou in 1983, now China has more kilometers of high-speed rail than the entire rest of the world combined! I think it surpasses Japan as the greatest example of economic development in human history.

(Of course, back then I rode on elevators in Beijing & Shanghai, but if memory serves that one escalator was the only one I saw.)

[Zach_Attack]

2 things :

 

The lack of common sense (especially when in the hospital) 

 

All foreigners are RICH and have guns

[Demonic_Duck]

TKS Imron & MPhilips.  I've done a search about the etiquette concerning taking the escalator and found this:

 

乘坐自动扶梯，应靠右侧站立，空出左侧通道，以便有急事的人通行；应主动照顾同行的老人与小孩踏上扶梯，以防跌倒；如须从左侧急行通过时，应向给自己让路的人致谢。

 

It says, the left side is for persons in a hurry. If one wants exercise, I believe, there is always an option, namely, the stairs.

 

Yep. Stand on the right, walk on the left. You'll notice that occasionally, at certain escalators in certain stations, a member of staff will stand there yelling at people who block up the left side. I always feel a profound sense of respect and gratitude towards these people.

 

What I don't understand is why they don't include it in the recorded announcements that automatically play at all escalators in the Beijing subway:

 

“请您抓好扶手

不要倚靠电梯

注意脚下安全

文明乘坐电梯”

 

They recorded four lines of instructions (all of which are common sense and don't really need to be mentioned) yet failed to mention the most basic convention of international escalator etiquette. It's no wonder people don't know what it is.

 

Now, I'm not saying this rule is always followed in other countries, but the holding hands thing just drives me up the wall.

[Guest realmayo]

I find the constant comparisons with the west tiresome and uncomfortable, sometimes I honestly think that if the west was to suddenly no longer exist, China couldn't either because it would no longer have anything to define itself against.

[MPhillips]

There is one truly major difference--in China people believe in progress, while the West has abandoned the notion.

[aone]

Never mind, realmayo. It is ok, at least. to me, 'cause 我和我的小伙伴们  grow up in comparisons     

[skylee]

What I don't understand is why they don't include it in the recorded announcements that automatically play at all escalators in the Beijing subway

Perhaps because that might not be what the authorities would like to promote. In Hong Kong, where most people (many tourists excluded) choose to adopt the practice of standing on one side of the escalator and letting other people who are in a hurry to walk on the other side, the official advice is that people should not walk on an escalator at all. The authorities (i.e. the government department responsible for safety of lifts/ escalators) are of the view that walking on an escalator is dangerous. So the public announcements in subway stations in Hong Kong ask passengers to stand at the middle of a step and don't walk on an escalator.

[imron]

On the Beijing metro there are actually signs in Chinese telling people who want to stand to stand on one side so people can walk on the other.  No-one seems to read or pay attention to them.

[Demonic_Duck]

Hmm, go figure. But I don't think that's the case here, escalators here have a line painted down the middle of each step, and I'm pretty sure I've seen written signs which mention the stand on the right/walk on the left thing (though they're not very conspicuous).

 

Edit: simul-posted with imron.

[ChTTay]

Don't think this has been mentioned...

People standing directly infront of you / not letting you off when you try and exit the subway carriage. The same goes for lifts in any building.

The worst thing is, when you immediately step forward (sort of in their face as they are blocking their path) you often get looked at as if you're a madman. Sometimes you can't help put push past them as if you don't you can't get off the subway.

Sometimes I just stand there having a "face off" with these people... Everyone gets very confused.

[Kenny同志]

How come no one mentioned those ubiquitous red banners? Well, well ...

[OneEye]

The authorities (i.e. the government department responsible for safety of lifts/ escalators) are of the view that walking on an escalator is dangerous.

 

I don't know about China, but in Hong Kong walking on the escalators is dangerous. Those things are twice as fast as they should be.

 

[Haro124]

The stares that some people give foreigners

The people on the subways begging that have severe physical deformities

How cleanliness just is non existent in some places

Oh and the night life can be a bit weird. Why go to a nightclub to fall asleep? And plates of melons everywhere just wtf

[ChTTay]

I like fruit in nightclubs... But not the amount they often charge for it!!

[MPhillips]

Hong Kong escalators--better than the grates over steam vents in New York--if you're a man!

@Haro124: There may not be any deformed beggars on European subways now, but give 'em time--they're working on it! Actually something tells me they might not be too hard to find in Athens or Lisbon.

[Meja]

Can't think of any now, maybe when strangers would point at me. It made me uneasy at first, but I am much more at home with it now. 

[liuzhou]

Other foreigners.

[eslnomad]

One thing that makes me very uncomfortable that was not mentioned is people leaning over and looking into my shopping cart or shopping bag at the supermarket.  What is creepy is just the weird look on their face like they're seeing bread, juice, etc. for the first time.  And how they then don't react to the "I'm uncomfortable" cues you send out when they do this. 

[AdamD]

On the Beijing metro there are actually signs in Chinese telling people who want to stand to stand on one side so people can walk on the other.  No-one seems to read or pay attention to them.

 

Please stand firm, hold the handrail. Please stand firm, hold the handrail. Please stand firm, hold the handrail. Please stand firm, hold the handrail. Please stand firm, hold the handrail.

[Juliette (法珠雷)]

^ Not that insightful for a first post, but I needed to give this a nod.

This phrase keeps haunting me for months after I leave China. Every single time.