Dealing With Chinese Crowds: A Primer for Canadians

As promised, here's a look at boarding a plane (or waiting in any kind of line), Chinese style.

When a crowd assembles - and it's always a crowd in China - people jockey continuously for position, mostly maintained by elbowing and crowding together in the most advantageous place. Looking at the others in the crowd is likely to be interpreted as a sign of weakness, and while you are busy looking at the other person, they will steal your spot. Lesson learned.

Furthermore, the concept of "personal space" does not exist in a nation of over a billion people. If you are waiting for a subway, bus or train, people will push entirely up against you, especially if you don't look forceful. The only way to move at all is by pushing back. Standing still is impossible because you will be accosted from all sides by people pushing you out of the way. Did I mention there's a lot of pushing? It's a Canadian elementary teacher's nightmare.

People have been asking me - how was China? Strangely, the adjective that comes to mind is Darwinian. Picture this: 240 Chinese people (and about 10 white people, and 1 black person) are waiting for a flight. Fifteen minutes before the plane even calls for boarding, people line up near the door. Rather, they make a large mass near the door because "lining up" doesn't normally occur.

When the doors to the tarmac are opened, people literally run as quickly as possible to board the plane. Why? So they can sit as close as possible to the front. Why? So they can exit the plane as quickly as possible. Why? So they can wait in the next line as quickly as possible. Why? You get the picture. Imagine a group of sugar-starved seven-year-olds at a gigantic Easter egg hunt. Now you get the sense of urgency and lack of social constraint that Chinese crowds exhibit.

They are like those flocks of birds that appear in the fall, weaving and dancing in perfect synchronization, yet seemingly without a leader. I am not saying this to imply the Chinese are uncivilized or to criticize - it goes without saying that we have vast cultural differences from China and experiencing it firsthand was jarring. After a while, however, it becomes just another norm and before you know it, you are pushing onto the bus before the next guy can get in ahead of you.