They seem to work fine in MA -- perhaps it's a CA thing? I love close door buttons -- where they don't work is in the UK by and large. But judicious use is key.

tb

Elevators - it isn't they will close it on you, it's just if they see you coming no one will bother to stop the doors closing by pushing the open door button.

As for natives, younger folks tend to have better manners than older. But you also see a mix of things going on too. I've seen younger folks yell at elders, and others than give up their seats to older people. A mix of both. But I will be the first to tell you despite the general lack of manners, most of my local Chinese friends have good manners and are very kind. And some of the most warm people I have ever met come from China - so don't take my comments to China all as negative.

Could be , as age of elevator has affect on compliance.

Er, no, I was observing people stabbing at the "close door" button the second they got into the elevator. It seemed almost reflexive. I'd say it was most-prevalent among those middle-aged, always male, typically looked like businessmen. Seriously, there would be people heading towards an elevator I was in, in plain sight, and the guy would be punching the button to close the door.

I noticed different manners, not a lack of them. If I thought everything should be like it is back home, what would the point of travel be?

Many places I see, I think great, that was interesting, it's crossed off my list, now time to go see something else. Egypt was like that. Very glad I went, but no desire to go back. China? I want to go back! I want to see more. I want to spend more time in the crazy fake shopping areas. I want to try more adventurous food. I want to meet more people.

^China^

It is reflexive behavior, force of habit, and I do it, too, all the time even though I'm not a male businessman. Though usually I make sure nobody is near the elevator also wanting to hop on. Just so you know the technicals: Elevators when put into service, have a preprogrammed (and manufacturer-adjustable) lag time between when a floor button is pushed/requested, and when the door automatically closes and the car starts. In most Chinese building elevators I've been in, this lag time can be quite long, now that the subject has been opened, it seems longer than the presets of elevators in most other countries' that I've been in. It's extremely annoying to be waiting 15-20 extra seconds for a door to close when nobody is coming or going--it feels like 15-20 minutes! Pushing the "door close" button manually overrides the lag time on most elevator models, resulting in immediate door close and on your way. (Pushing the "door open" button also overrides the autolag, and I use that too when situation demands.) For this sort of specific behavior on elevator button impatience, I do think it's become unconscious habit in the majority of cases, with a minority of instances of purposely trying to close the elevator fast and go before another person hustling to try to make the car can get there.

Mike, these are my sentiments exactly. I went to Egypt in 2007. Glad I went, but won't ever go again, especially now. However, I will go back to China again, but maybe not for a few more years. I tend to alternate continents with my 2 vacation trips a year. Next year, South America and Europe. 2013, I'll be looking at an Asian trip.

Industry standard here is 3-6 seconds open to auto close. Considering that the CZ A380 flying domestic can board in 10 minutes and 5 years here = 1 year in China. They should be programmed for 1-3 seconds door close. If its 15-20 seconds they must be using bootleg components not real OTIS.

I assure you, that lag is a lot longer than 1-3 seconds. Even with genuine elevator OEM equipment.

And keep in mind that whatever your experience with OTIS--they only provides a subset of all elevators here due to their expense--Fujitsu, Kone, Schindler, and some other manufacturers are also ubiquitous. But all have the same issue. Regardless of manufacturer, "Industry standard" for presets will always be trumped by local code and practice, and directive of the elevator inspection/certification official, and by building ownership/management preferences. The hydraulic elevators are worse on delays than the high-speed electrics, as you might expect, but even the electrics/tractions lag more than you'd find in an equivalent model and vintage in office/hotel/public building complexes in western countries.

Next time you are in China, take some elevator rides in a wide variety of buildings and use a stopwatch or something with sweep second hand to time the lags. By the end of your stay in China, you'll be pushing emphatically on that "door close" button also.

Will do that. Might be difficult to block the alpha males from that close button without being offensive. Will borrow a KTV employee to distract attention in order to complete the study.:

When you stand in a Chinese hospital waiting for the elevator for 15 min and then there is a massive crowd of people, you can understand a bit more. Again, I don't excuse it but can see why they do.

Very warm, when the wire transfer is confirmed.

Next time you are in China, take some elevator rides in a wide variety of buildings and use a stopwatch or something with sweep second hand to time the lags. By the end of your stay in China, you'll be pushing emphatically on that "door close" button also.[/QUOTE]

Made a recent study. Close time seemed actually rather short. Avg ~2 seconds.
However found it common that close button is always used as if its a requirement.
More like a conditioned act.

Sampling 12 buildings from 20 to +100 floors.

Per my original post, had an interesting experience in reverse yesterday. At 16:45 pm at the back of The Place (usually impossible for empty taxis at this hour), lucked out with an empty so I hopped in and told him my destination. He looked at me, looked out the window ahead of him, then shook his head and refused to take me to my destination (which wasn't that far away, maybe 2 km). So I got out, only to have him lunge the taxi ahead about 20 m ahead to a Chinese woman with....a suitcase!

Need to carry a inflatable suitcase in your purse. Pull out blow it up..good to go to fake out taxi.

Where else would you find such a thing..alibaba.com.

http://m.alibaba.com/product-gs/4911..._suitcase.html

ROTFLMAO! Actually, what I really need is an inflatable taxi or better yet, an inflatable balloon I can ride over the traffic jams in.