The title of this blog entry is a tad unfair when it comes to the topic I am talking about, but I am actually relating the complaint of my wife who is a local.
Boarding a bus in Wuxi is not a pleasant experience. It is everyone for themselves. Manners or patience are not exhibited by all age groups. I have seen old women shove people out of the way to get on the bus first. Today, I saw two old men jostle each other in hopes of getting on the bus first and getting a seat. I wish I had my camera with me and taken a video. These two men were in the front of group of thirty that became jammed at the entrance. For about thirty seconds, only two or three more people could get on the bus.
Now I happened to be a witness to this because I was with Tony and we were waiting for Jenny to finish an errand. When Jenny finished the errand I gave her Tony and went back to work while she waited to board the next bus. I mentioned to her how rough the previous group had been when boarding the bus before I left her.
When I got home this evening, she had an experience boarding the very next bus that prompts me to use the harsh blog title. Boarding the bus with Tony, she was shoved out of the way by an old woman. My wife, not being one to hold back her emotion, told the woman off. An old man accompanying the old woman then apparently shoved Tony causing him to cry. If I was there I would have kicked his barbaric ass - what else could I have done?
My wife also tells me that only my presence that will guarrantee her any civilized behavior from other people on the bus. She tells me that if I am not with her, no one would yield a seat to her (woman with babies should have seating privileges). So she has had to stand for forty minutes on the bus with Tony in her arms.
I have had people on the bus treat me a lot nicely. But seeing how the courtesy I get is not extended to the locals, it doesn't say much.
The never ending adventures of a Canadian who lives in Wuxi and Jiangyin, China with his Chinese wife Jenny and their son Anthony aka Tony
It depends. On my visit to Beijing I never had a problem with manners on buses (I'm Chinese-born-Canadian so when I'm in China people usually can't tell I'm non-Chinese, especially since I speak Mandarin fluently) and saw several people getting up to give their seats to elders and people with children. Generally it's more crazy then trying to catch a bus here in Ottawa, but I didn't have people trying to shove me out of the way so they can get on (usually they're pushing me to get on so they can squeeze on after me, lol).
ReplyDeleteThank you for leaving a comment. I have had people tell me that Wuxiren are often seen as uncouth by other Chinese, especially from the bigger cites. Wuxi is basically a small town turned into a metropolis over night.
ReplyDeleteMy experience in Wuxi has been that the locals can often be the most polite or rudest people one can ever meet.
I should also add that some of the criticism that Chinese will get for their behavior is unfair because for example in Canada, we don't have to deal with the massive number of people you see everyday here in China. I suppose that a supermarket packed as densely with Canadians would be a lot ruder place than if it was filled with Chinese.
It's interesting that you being there makes a positive difference, though I suppose it has to do with your gender. Here in neighbouring Changzhou when I'm around my girlfriend usually gets it worse since it's then known she's with a foreigner.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I'm usually treated much better when she's around. I've heard Wuxi is more modern and friendly to foreigners than Changzhou, though I've not yet made the visit.
Glad to have found your blog. Nice to see someone with similar geography to my own.