There are many things we see almost on a daily basis here in Beijing. Bicyclists and pedestrians nearly getting hit by cars or buses, lovey-dovey couples following a different-than-American standard for PDA on the subways, and of course little infants with bare-bottomed pants designed for easy public urination.
Well, probably one of the most common things you'll see in Beijing is a human being with their head down ignoring the world around them by getting lost in whatever their mobile phone or iPod has to offer them at that moment:
Now, you might be thinking, "Americans are like this, too." And you'd probably be right.
However, Chinese people tend to be a lot less out-going and conversational in public settings. Of course there are exceptions, but for the most part you'd be able to tell if there are any foreigners in your subway car just by listening to the amount of conversation.
Which makes the mobile-phone coma all the more noticeable (Chinese people say "mobile phone" much more than "cell phone," and some of my students didn't even know what I meant by "cell phone").
All in all, when you come to Beijing, watch where you're going and watch your step....you never know when you might accidentally run into someone lost in another, digitally-induced world.
(And yes, I was that creepy guy taking pictures of other people on the subway.)
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