Being a taiwan-born Chinese, I’d never thought I’d experienced this much cultural shock in Chaiiiin@ (spelling changed for you know why). I anticipated a little bit since I’ve lived in the States for so long, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad. Shanghai was probably the worst part of the trip. It’s the first city we went. Although we arrived late at night so didn’t see the full extent of the traffic situation, I glimpsed what was yet to come on the ride from the airport to our temporary apartment. The apartment sits on an one-way street. The cab driver couldn’t find the beginning of the street so he decided to go in the opposite direction. Thinking back I’m surprised how well my mom took it. Later throughout the trip she never got used to the way people drove and would pinch my arm, screamed, cussed every time we crossed a street. Anyway, I complained to the driver and he responded, "don’t worry, at this hour there won’t be any cops. I won’t get a ticket." That was just a beginning. Quickly and painfully we learned that cars don’t stop for pedestrians even if you’re crossing a green light, right-turners are especially vicious; motorcycles don’t yield. It’s fine for most locals since they obviously all know chinese kung fu and can dance around the motorcycles, bikes, buses and trucks so fast you can’t see how they do it with human eyes. But a couple times bikes and motorcycles stopped mere 5 inches from my mom, and one time a cab stopped barely touching my leg. I’m still kicking myself for not punching a dent on his hood. The second shock is from the people. It’s probably too crowded a city that they don’t have a concept of lining up. And I’m not saying it to be cynical. Again, they DO NOT have a concept of lining up. I was furious the first time a couple stood right in front of me when I was waiting for the subway, and I said "you guys are really rude. Didn’t you see I was lining up here? Did you realize you just cut the line?" If you think i made too big of a deal out of this, you have to understand the Shanghai subway trains. I lived in NY for a while and if you think NYC trains are crowded, you obviously haven’t been to Shanghai. It’s so packed that when the door opens, people literally fall out of the train just like my comforters in the linen closet. People waiting for the train don’t wait for others to get off first before pushing their way in. So it’s essential to get on the train as soon as it arrives in order to secure a standing spot. Back to the story. I somewhat regretted when the woman turned around, cuz she’s actually pretty old. If I saw how old they were i wouldn’t have said anything. She seemed hurt by my comments, and replied, "what do you mean you’re lining up? why are you so rude? You’re not very polite" Then she grabbed her husband and went for another door. My regret disappeared instantaneously. I couldn’t believe she said I was the one was was impolite! I was a little puzzled by her attitude because she came across as well-mannered and well educated. After a few trips to the subway and other places, I realized people never line up for anything. Feel free to stand in front of anyone they won’t be offended at all. So the first few days I was irritated by all the things mentioned above, which is pretty much all day long since we walk around to sightsee and take trains to get around. But slowly I realized most people were very nice and patient, with the exception of subway ticket clerks- I wouldn’t be surprised if they recently migrated from NYC and used to work in NY subway stations. We also noticed that Shanghainess don’t get mad. Most people seem to be happy and carefree. They happily push other people out of their way when climbing onto the train, but don’t lose their temper when being pushed away. If you yell at them they curiously stare at you and just shrug it off. One afternoon when we were in Beijing sitting in the traffic caused by the mayor shutting down major arterials for his visit, my mom complained that the mayor shouldn’t come out during peak hours and cause the whole city’s inconvenience. The driver responded, "I’m afraid I have a different opinion. You have to think for the mayor. Do you know how busy he is? It must be really difficult for him to arrange his schedule. So whenever he has time to come out and see the city, we should all cooperate. A little traffic jam? not a problem!" I wonder if their attitude has something to do with communist education? People in Beijing are more orderly and pleasant.