Chinese Transportation Etiquette: 10 Commandments

1. Don't leave more than two inches of space between you and those immediately in front of you and behind you. Failure to obey this commandment results in immediate forfeiture of spot in line. (and if you're in a line at a grocery store, rather than getting train/etc tickets, you can slowly and passive aggressively push the cart of person in front you with your own cart as they take money out of their wallet and receive change to finish the transaction. if you time this right, your cart will be perfectly positioned and theirs totally out of the way just as they slip their change back into their wallet and the cashier turns back to ring up your own groceries, saving you 5 seconds.)
2. Don't allow people to exit a subway car or elevator before you attempt to board. Two streams of traffic going in opposite directions at a door is desirable, and slows everyone down.
3. Don't get off of a train or elevator, no matter how crowded, to create space for someone else attempting to de-board. Doing this gives the person getting off the liberty to shove and push everyone in their way as they see if they can get out before the doors close. Sometimes they don't get out in time, which is perfectly amusing, unless it's you.
4. Don't wait until your light turns green before crossing the street. This allows you to progressively cross the street in stages. First, you cross the right hand turn lane. You can stand in the middle of this lane. Then you cross the traffic going in one direction, getting to the median. Finally, you can cross the traffic going the other direction. Piecewise-street-crossing is the best way to get where you're going.
5. Do not give up an open seat. In fact, you should move as quickly as possible, as an open seat shouldn't be open for more than 0.5 seconds. Also, if the seat opens up, say, on the right of you, and your friend is standing to your left, you should move over to the right seat, blocking others from getting the seat you're vacating, and leaving it open to your friend on your left. If there are old people on the train, it doesn't matter. Tough cookies.
6. You can always find more room for more people on the train.
7. If the transit workers in the subway station make you line up to wait for the train, this line means absolutely zero when the train pulls in. Push. Shove. GET ON THAT TRAIN.
8. If a train is pulling into the station as you walk up or down the steps to the platform, don't run for the train. Continue at the same pace, blocking everyone behind you.
9. Your subway "transfer" may or may not involve walking out of one station, outside, around the block, through cattle grates, inside, down to one platform, through that platform, and finally to your destination platform.
10. You can always get out of the bus/subway/rat race and take a taxi for $1.25.

The virtues of chinese line and transportation etiquette: violence in entering and exiting, selfishness in taking seats, shameless, stupid bravery in crossing streets, stoicism in tolerating the conditions.