It has been almost three years since I left Shanghai to return to the US, and coming back, it was exciting to see the city again. In the year and a half I had spent working for the Shanghai Star I had learned a little Mandarin, got to know a lot about the Chinese people, and finally figured out how to get a hamburger at McDonalds.

The latter was not an easy lesson. In fact, it took more nerve than I thought I had at the time to fight the mobs of people who crowded around the serving counter waving their money and shouting their orders. I didn’t require a McDonald’s hamburger, but I had to learn somewhere, and that was my first experience. It wasn’t long before I was ignoring a lifetime of manners and pushing my way to the counter to demand attention. It was a skill that served me well in my time here, but one with which I never became comfortable.

When I decided to return to the Shanghai Star several weeks ago, I knew I would have to again set aside the Western etiquette of queuing in stores and at food stalls and other places where large groups of people gather to do business. In other words, it was time to get tough.

What a pleasant surprise when I approached a small food stall on Songshan Lu and found a large group of people who were probably headed to work standing in a long line, waiting to purchase steamed buns. If ever there was fast food, this is it, but customers were as patient and regulated as they would be in an upscale restaurant with top-flight service.

I approached the line with some trepidation, afraid to find that it was flu shots instead of fast food being dispensed.

No ?it was steamed buns all right, and I was able to purchase two of them without giving up my dignity or inflicting any bruises.

“Imagine that,?I thought to myself. “How did this happen?? Thinking at first it was a fluke, I began to notice this new behaviour more and more in different places throughout the city. People waiting to get onto the metro were standing one behind the other at the marks on the platform and lines formed at the turnstiles to get into the station. There was also an absence of pushing and shoving at the small convenience stores where students congregate in the afternoons and hurried commuters stop for items on their way home. In fact, there appears to be a gradual shift towards a less physical approach when a lot of people want to be in the same place at one time.

Whether this behaviour is being exhibited in other places around the city is a mystery. I’ve only been back for a few weeks and haven’t had time to explore. However my thesis may be destroyed by one visit to a McDonalds restaurant on a Saturday afternoon.