Random Acts of Kindness or RAK's are random not planned. You could get no direct benefit yourself. Small things such as, picking up a sharp screw laying on the street so someone else's tire does not go flat is truly random. Giving something to others with no expectation of benefit beyond "what goes around comes around."

like helping the old lady who has fallen over in the street, who then accuses you of pushing her over and demands compo. as my old china hand mate used to say, no act of kindness goes unpunished.

I'm not as jaded as @dazzer. I came across this term many years ago and get a bit of a buzz out of doing something randomly and for no other reason than it's kind (and that it gives you feel-good buzz, I guess). Nowhere near as often as I would like to, admittedly, but personally I'll risk the highly unlikely "old-con-lady-in-street", if I can somehow benefit dozens of others anonymously.

Sometimes I get a free gift from the supermarket or gifts from friends that I dont really want, instead of carrying them home I will give them to the homeless people who live near the temple. Doesn't cost me anything, but its not really a RAK as its always nice (smart) to be kind to the people who live around you.

Yeah Like to pass by the thoughts of Dazzer as SLIGHTLY to negative lol
The many little RAK's are worthwhile even if they do turn up some ungrateful soul once in a 'blue moon'

Hey Dazzer, your spot on, and it is not a bluemoon. For all you temple/ poor people giving deeds well done. But I have to support what Dazzer said about helping people in accidents in China. 2 days ago I tried to help a drunk man who had been beaten. I gave him a tissue and water and he starts yelling at me. Then an old dude crashes into me yesterday on his electric lazy bike while he was trying to eat peanuts and swerving across the road while looking for peanuts in his bag (his head was vertically down whilst driving in traffic; so Chinese). I barley escape the incident and luckily he did not actually crash into me. Out of some remnant of my western moral standard I stop my pushbike and try to help him up when he starts accusing me of crashing into him and causing the accident. Do you know in the crowded street how many CHinese came to his aid? 0. A big 0. So for all you bloggers who claim Dazzar is negative; here is someone else who got blamed helping a man up from the road. I know you guys think you can change China, but it is a big place with alot of people and a corrupt and unfair system of immorality veiled in allegory and enforced by laws that do not apply to the ruling elite. I ended up letting the sorry ass lay in his blood and his busted arm and ride away. The police tried to stop me but they got the birdie and backed down. You think between majong gambling, drinking on the job and knockshop visits some lazy kunming police officer is going to help you from an angry mob? In China, there is no merit and for those who get a warm fuzzy feeling from 'RAK'. You are going to get into some shit you cant easily walk away from. This is communist China not Sunday school. The reality in China is the more cunning and ruthless the higher up the red ladder you go. Be the first in the line to get your meals and be the fastest to run from trouble and survive. Now I know why Chinese do not help other Chinese when they have an accident. I thought they did not have hearts, and Chinese were immoral, but as I and Dazzar have learnt you can quickly become the target of someone's bs campaign of compo against you. It is survival, and there is no room for that warm fuzzy feeling dodo birds!

@chicha
sounds to me like a sorry excuse to avoid helping others. if you need to tell you this not to get involved, good for you. I helped dozens of times and never ever was i accused of harming or causing the incident. in my experience it's a face thing when they shout and curse at you. obviously they have been dumb enough to be in the situation and now they are bu haoyisi. if you are scared of compo take one of the people standing there and ask to film you or point at the next traffic cam.

i usually tell, i'm sorry mr. i only want to help, are you ok? when they give me a hard time.

has always worked for me.
plus you can be sure you are caught on security or traffic cam.

the whole compo thing is an urban myth. i was in beijing when it was happening and i was there when its BS factor was unraveled.

as i said show me any proof that a foreigner ever got sued for helping a local.
what you see though is a lot of foreign a**holes causing accidents and take off.
in chicha's theory looks like we aren't so different after all. lol

@The Dudeson's

The key is as you said it "has always worked for me" Personally I agree with Chicha78. You have to be very careful. It only takes one bad experience to sour your good intentions. Every person has a right to their own way of dealing with 'acts of kindness'. My 'acts of kindness' are usually limited to simple things like holding the door open for somebody or letting them get ahead of me in line. When it comes to helping someone who has fallen on the street be it elderly or young, you have to really be careful since China is famous for these scams. Keep on doing what works for you.

Someone help these guys. They fell down

v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNjQ2MTM2NTY0.html?x
v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNjc3MzcwNDA0.html?x
v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTkwOTk0MjEy.html?x
v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNjQ1NDA2NTIw.html?x

Good videos. That's why more and more cars are buying dashboard cam. I'm all for helping but as I said before, you have to think twice. As a foreigner, you are a target by default. Proceed with caution!