I personally think in every country, if you care about your life, you'd better watch everyone around you while participating in traffic. Traffic lights are only indicational lights, not guaranteed safety. Once adopted that basic idea, I consider traffic in Kunming freedom! In Holland I might die or become permanently cripple getting hit by a car going 100km/h in the city with one little mistake. So 'in the west' we might have harshly enforced, strict traffic laws.. so what? Of course there's a lot of idiots on the road driving in seemingly random ways, but one thing is usually certain; they also don't want to die or end up in an accident (especially if you see how many hours people spent here discussing a little scratch on their Prado).

Just follow this basic rule: as long as you're in front of someone (especially cars), they will see you. In any other position you have to anticipate their every move.

That said, while cursing out some complete idiots on the road (usually people on foot, bicycle or scooter), I love driving here!

@Flamezpowa: Why do we have to acknowledge someone 'similar' to us? And the fact that most Chinese people smile back at you is mostly JUST because you are a foreigner...

@Greginchina: Nice write-up there... I guess some of us in the thread here are also referring to his comical "Ohmigod-another-foreigner-how-amazing-let's-bond-and-be-bestest-friends-just-cos-we're-both-foreigners-in-China!" haha..

Anyway... I think some people just feel a bit lonely or are amazed by the fact that not everybody is absolutely thrilled every time somebody with the same skin colour comes parading by.

I personally live in Kunming because I chose to live in this place specifically. Admittedly, most of my friends are other laowai, one of the reasons being that my Chinese is still not good enough to have deep conversations with Chinese people. That said, I don't see why I should greet or acknowledge another person simply because they have the same skin colour as I do. Being out in the streets, as said earlier, doesn't mean I'm on a social round and I can relate to the comment that I'm probably at times walking around with the "I know you're staring at me but I don't give a f*ck" face, which doesn't mean I feel better than the people around me. Nothing wrong with spontaneous conversation or greeting strangers, but we're both foreigners, so what? If it happens, it happens, if not, then not. No need to force yourself upon someone else. If you're really that desperate to meet people from the same part of the world, it might be a great idea to move back to that place! I am Dutch and I do have Dutch friends here, but I'd never seek them out, as I simply don't really care where people are from and as being Dutch doesn't mean that much to me, except for feeling lucky I've had pretty good opportunities in my life, although coming from a relatively poor family.

Just my two jiao worth..

Lots of free advertisement for Salvador's in these bashing threads...

Gaoxing and BillDan, I would like to point you to www.elong.net and www.ctrip.com, where you can get cheap tickets to fly... well, to a different place in China. Ah yes, and from several other places in China it's also easy to leave the country entirely!

Speaking of people stuck up people; those complaining the most about the place they're in classify quite nicely as what you like to describe the more content expats with.

I personally get sick of people coming to China just to complain how life and values here are 'inferior' to those back at 'home', where ever home might be, while they're really just different. What makes you move to the other side of the world, just to become a hater of the place? Calling yourself 'gaoxing' at least shows you have some sense of humour, admittedly. :)