So far we have only been to Beijing. My impression of the Chinese might be wrong then, but so far it is really a people of duality.
They are nice people but about as polite as a pack of starving hyenas on the queue to the free antelope steakhouse. Example:
We got into the metro station and queued behind the guy buying he tickets. The two Chinese dudes behind us just casually walk by us and stood in line before us. I made some cavemen grumbling noise they turned, looked up (It helps being twice the size) smiled and walked behind us to queue properly. The guy was finished and we were about to take a step towards the register when this Chinese woman, coming just in tried to walk in front of us and to the register! I set my arm in her way, making that grumbling noise again. she looked up at me, smiled said sorry and got in line.
That was the worse part of it all. She said sorry, which means she knows its wrong, but she just went ahead and done it anyway. And this is just one in many cases we encounter this, each day. They seem to be living in a bubble of “Me Me Me” and the rest can go screw themselves.
It might be only the Beijing Chinese. I’m not sure. Ill know in a few days when I have been to Xi’an for a while.