Legit Question - Do Chinese and Indian cultures have different ideas on "personal space"?

Wrong. I drove there. That’s not how it works at all.

It is funny that there are comments in this thread that are outright racial bashing, but I’m the one who got carded for a joke. That’s just funny to me.

<{pranko}>
<Fedor23>

What country? Are you aware Asia isn't a country? <JonesLaugh>

Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan and China were all pretty much like this, busy AF and chaos, Singapore and Japan maybe less so.
 
What country? Are you aware Asia isn't a country? <JonesLaugh>

Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan and China were all pretty much like this, busy AF and chaos, Singapore and Japan maybe less so.

I’m gonna ignore the Asia country thing, not really worth a response.

China, as that was one of the two ethnicities mentioned in the OP. No one is trying to get out of each other’s way in any sense. They’re just trying to get wherever they’re going first, regardless of if anyone else is around or in front of them or not.

I saw countless fender benders and was involved in 2, simply because the drivers in that country will push ahead and try to edge out and push aside other drivers if at all possible.

Also I saw probably 8 pedestrians and several bicycle/scooter riders get hit and seriously injured, 3 of them were hit and run, and also one that was almost certainly a fatality, where I saw a woman crying on the side of a busy road holding her bloody, unconscious husband after he had been the victim of a hit and run. This was all in the one city that I lived in for 13 years.

Also saw a couple of accidents in the 2 weeks I was in Malaysia, and 2 of my family members were involved in accidents in the year I lived in Philippines with my wife......one was my father in law when he collided with another motorcycle, and the other was when my nephew was hit and spun around by a motorcycle driving by too fast, and it was lucky the motorcycle only hit his arm.

So yeah, that’s 3 countries.
 
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While they will play chicken with you (walking right in your way etc) call their bluff and head right at them, they invariably have to move due to being smaller than westerners and thus the ones likely to come off second best in a collision.

I played the battering ram for my gf when all these tourists wouldn't make space on the hiking footpath.
 
I live in America and grew up in America and we are very serious (sometimes too much so) about our "personal space". I find that in many large social settings (airports, stores, resturuants, etc.) many people have no clue about personal space or lines and stuff like that. It tends to be people from India and China.

For example waiting to get my luggage from the airport there are very clear lines and lanes. I had staked out my little space and was maybe a foot or 2 back to leave space if someone needed to swoop in and grab their luggage. A group of Indian families come literally right in front of me with 2 luggage carts and about a dozen people. They kept moving over and over and I stood there to see what would happen. One of them was literally touching my arm standing right next to me.

So my question is......are people like that rude? selfish? Clueless? Ignorant? A cultural thing? all of the above?

Note this isn't a race or cultural bashing thread. I'm legit interested to know if other cultures have different standards in this regard. Are Americans too uptight and insecure about their space? Are overpopulated countries more relaxed on personal space?
As a long time Indian expat and ethnic Indian , I say it's cultural mixed with ignorance and cluelessness when travelling abroad.
 
Yes other countries have different definitions of civility, manners, and personal space. Honestly one of the most annoying aspects of Britain’s dying colonialism is the spread and appreciation of their cultural Moore’s
 
So my question is......are people like that rude? selfish? Clueless? Ignorant? A cultural thing? all of the above?


A cultural thing.

And since they (combined) outnumber Americans 7:1, I would say that Americans are the ones that have a different idea of personal space from the norm.

This isnt scientifically proven but i believe it is due to Americans having a waist diameter so large that it's rare to get within 1.5 metres of another American's face. When they see a normal slim person get close to them they feel claustrophobic.
 
Generally speaking, regardless of their race or culture I have found most people to be rude ill-mannered cunts with zero spacial awareness.
 
I’ll tell you an interesting story, a bit long , but I can’t sleep. While traveling in China , 1987. My Swedish girlfriend and I landed in Beijing. Backpacked our way out of the airport and found a cheap hotel..

Wanted to get to the Forbidden City, struggled to find a bus stop. After arriving at the bus stop we found about 30 other passengers waiting. The bus route caused the bus to pass us going one way, make a U turn and come back to get us. The local riders all knew this and started to jostle for position after the initial pass.

Me wanting to be polite while towering over 90% of the people around me assumed a submissive and docile posture..mistake...

The bus pulled up absolutely Packed, people had their faces pressed up against the glass, my girlfriend and I just looked, frozen, the doors open , the madness begins, pushing, shoving, falling, but oddly enough , no anger, they are smiling during the melee...

We missed or failed to make it on the first 3 busses..finally it became clear, different country, different rules of engagement...


I spot the next bus, I begin to position myself, I tell my girl, “ grab my arm, don’t let go” The bus pulls up, the doors open, I move forward like a linebacker, we are in the thick of it, small Chinese people are flying as I enter the bus..finally. Inside , after all the shoving and pushing, they all look at us and smile, a smile that said, Welcome to China..

PS, the trains, an entire new experience..
 
<TrumpWrong1><TrumpWrong1><TrumpWrong1>

They can't have a different idea of "personal space" when there's no such thing as "personal space" to them.
 
A cultural thing.

And since they (combined) outnumber Americans 7:1, I would say that Americans are the ones that have a different idea of personal space from the norm.

This isnt scientifically proven but i believe it is due to Americans having a waist diameter so large that it's rare to get within 1.5 metres of another American's face. When they see a normal slim person get close to them they feel claustrophobic.

Good lord..

I was nodding at the first paragraph.
Then smiling at the ratio part, thinking hell yeah.
Then your post just went down the hill like a fat guy will roll down one.

As an Chinese that is besmirched itt, I approve of your post even though it's borderline offensive to use science facts on the obesed.
 
I’m gonna ignore the Asia country thing, not really worth a response.

China, as that was one of the two ethnicities mentioned in the OP. No one is trying to get out of each other’s way in any sense. They’re just trying to get wherever they’re going first, regardless of if anyone else is around or in front of them or not.

Nah not my experience. From what I saw they always let people go. More than once I was in a car where the driver turned in front of lanes of traffic, i shit bricks and they all magically stopped and let him go. I told the driver he probably would have been in a fight on a western road if he did that, he couldn't understand it.

I saw countless fender benders and was involved in 2, simply because the drivers in that country will push ahead and try to edge out and push aside other drivers if at all possible.

Westerners aren't equipped to drive on roads in Asia, you probably shouldn't have been behind the wheel in all seriousness, just get a driver.

Also I saw probably 8 pedestrians and several bicycle/scooter riders get hit and seriously injured, 3 of them were hit and run, and also one that was almost certainly a fatality, where I saw a woman crying on the side of a busy road holding her bloody, unconscious husband after he had been the victim of a hit and run. This was all in the one city that I lived in for 13 years.

Also saw a couple of accidents in the 2 weeks I was in Malaysia, and 2 of my family members were involved in accidents in the year I lived in Philippines with my wife......one was my father in law when he collided with another motorcycle, and the other was when my nephew was hit and spun around by a motorcycle driving by too fast, and it was lucky the motorcycle only hit his arm.

So yeah, that’s 3 countries.

Yeah well I've spent time in more than 3 countries in Asia and those were my experiences. haven't been to the Phillipines I must admit or Malaysia, maybe they're different.
 
I went on a cruise a few years ago. I had been on plenty, this one was a cheaper Carnival one that must have sent out mailers to the Chinese community. Here is what I experienced on the worst cruise I had ever been on:

1. Buffet was a shit show as the Chinese cut lines, were extremely noisey, and would sit anywhere including at a table you are sitting at with your family.
2. There was a running track on upper deck. They would put a chair right on it and sit there lol.
3. The pool was crowded and this group of Chinese ladies would do laps lmao. Bumping into everyone.
4. The elevators would be empty but they would stand face to face with you breathing their sour breath.
5. The casino tables would be packed and they would throw bets right over your shoulder.
7. They let their children pee over the side of the ship. This was the only time I saw crew members get involved and stop them.

It’s not just a personal space issue, it’s a concept of politeness and awareness that’s lacking.
 
Nah not my experience. From what I saw they always let people go. More than once I was in a car where the driver turned in front of lanes of traffic, i shit bricks and they all magically stopped and let him go. I told the driver he probably would have been in a fight on a western road if he did that, he couldn't understand it.



Westerners aren't equipped to drive on roads in Asia, you probably shouldn't have been behind the wheel in all seriousness, just get a driver.



Yeah well I've spent time in more than 3 countries in Asia and those were my experiences. haven't been to the Phillipines I must admit or Malaysia, maybe they're different.

It wasn’t just me in the fender benders. That shit happens all the time. A friend of my ex’s family was continually paying some woman he accidentally hit with his car, and that shit happens frequently as well. My ex would always remind me to be careful of people trying to get hit just to get money. Happens often.

Usually minor accidents are handled with cash rather than going through the whole insurance/police process.
 
It wasn’t just me in the fender benders. That shit happens all the time. A friend of my ex’s family was continually paying some woman he accidentally hit with his car, and that shit happens frequently as well. My ex would always remind me to be careful of people trying to get hit just to get money. Happens often.

Fair enough. Well I would never drive over there man, seems fucking crazy, I always get worried for a westerner on a scooter or something over there but anyway, they know the risks. Never really seen any crashes but I'm sure they happen.
 
Fair enough. Well I would never drive over there man, seems fucking crazy, I always get worried for a westerner on a scooter or something over there but anyway, they know the risks. Never really seen any crashes but I'm sure they happen.

Yeah it’s sad. An Irish friend of mine saw a woman and her baby in a stroller get taken out by a driver who was in a hurry and unaware of his surroundings. I saw another Chinese guy hit a girl head on and then try to pull her by her arms to the side of the road until others stopped him from doing so. Another time right by my house a guy came around a corner at an intersection and hit a bicycle and kept on driving. This was in Kunming, Yunnan.
 
Doesn't matter if it's their culture or not. Can't stand people that queue jump. Surely they can observe and see how others are behaving and follow accordingly, like a normal, decent human being does.
 
Dude my blood would be boiling. I don't understand why people have to be that way.

How about the fucktards that stop in front of an aisle entrance or in the middle of the aisle? Or assholes who somehow think it's perfectly fine to block and aisle or any other path, because they've run into someone they know and want to stand there and chit chat? I'm constantly mumbling crazy shit at these people or saying things like hey you're blocking people from moving through the store. Always some horseshit "oh oh I'm sorry I didn't realize..." Whatever moron go eat a dick

SMFH at the middle of the aisle people...oh my I'm sorry I didn't realize there was anyone else in the store...I usually settle for saying something like "fucking retard" under my breath, loud enough that they think that's what I said, but soft enough that they can't be sure lol...

FVHGvRP.jpg
 
It was like this in Germany too

If you weren't like 'ahole to bellybutton' with the person in line in front of you....they'd cut you like you weren't even standing there. They also expect you to get out their way, even if they're walking on what is clearly the wrong side of a pathway. I'd just Heisman people till they got the pt
 
Hate stereotypes but this has to be true.

couple of years back I went to Philadelphia and on the flight back home (early) this elderly asian lady was walking up and down the aisle, stepping over people while they slept.

You can throw Lebanese in to the mix as well.
 
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