To assist strangers who are in need sounds like the proper action for anyone to take. Yet, if you think about it, in a country where there’s no cultural tradition of the Good Samaritan story, such unabashed intrusion on someone visibly and audibly foreign is quite an odd action to take. In fact, in a Chinese context, Chinese people tend to avoid close contact for fear of pickpockets, which is believed to be the more likely reason to be approached by a stranger. The young men who assisted my friends explained why they wanted to help. They said that in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Government strongly encouraged its people to be kind and nice to visiting foreigners. The two friends took it to heart and have since been practicing helpfulness in English. In their words, the mandated friendliness was a good idea and they have enjoyed being nice to strangers. Oh, by the way, my friends weren’t missing any valuables after the young men departed.
Image from https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1363520
