One thing I have to remind myself each time I return to London—as soon as I hit the Underground from Heathrow—is that in this city, it’s essential to remember my manners. Having been back in China for a few years, I find that social etiquette and the words “please,” “sorry” and “thank you” that used to stream from my mouth with little effort don’t come so easily anymore. Good manners are easily forgotten. In an environment like modern China where everyday politeness towards strangers has a low currency rate, it seems to lose its viability. Just take pushing in, for example: when I was a teenager in Beijing, whoever stretched their hand out as close to the ticket officer got their ticket first, not those who waited in line.
Queuing in China is a lot better today than it used to be, partly because barriers, ropes and people enforce the lines, and also the fact that we have been made acutely aware what a national embarrassment the whole thing is (Try Googling “rude Chinese tourists abroad”).