Rude Awakening: Beijing Cleans Up Its Act?

Like the giant pandas, rude behavior is dying out, at least in the streets of Beijing, according to a new survey released Tuesday. Now we can say good riddance to those pet peeves of spitting and utter disregard for traffic rules – if you believe the results.

Today the Global Times reported on a study done by “the National Survey Research Center at Renmin University of China (NSRC)” which concluded that “Rude behavior like spitting or ignoring traffic lights is becoming rare on the streets of Beijing.”

The study has been deemed “incredible” for what seems to be a complete lack of connection between study and reality.

By interviewing 11,000 residents and spending over 8,000 hours observing “856,000 pedestrians, 584,000 motor vehicles and 454,000 bikes,” the study found only 7.2 people in 1,000 spit in public, and a mere 5.5 pedestrians per 1000 ignore traffic lights. The study didn’t specify how many drivers ignore pedestrians.

Exactly what part of Beijing was being studied is unclear but we would love to visit this spit-free enclave of orderly traffic.

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haha, “Rude behavior like spitting or ignoring traffic lights is becoming rare on the streets of Beijing.”- declaring "ignoring traffic lights" as "rude behavior" certainly tells a lot about what the problem here really is. And "rude behavior/spitting...rare"? maybe at 4 am in the morning; at a graveyard;

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