Mike, individual Chinese can behave completely differently when helping you figure something out on the street, vs scrambling for a scarce commodity like an empty taxi at rush hour. Jekyll and Hyde. And this would happen regardless of your smile, your stress level or lack thereof, etc. In cases where too many people all want a restricted resource, things can get ugly and your only recourse is sometimes to jump in there and duke it out. Visitors with financial resources can hire a private driver. (though the car will get stuck in the same traffic)