Hey, dude I don't celebrate boxing day, but good to see you're in the festive mood.

The statement you put into question is a solid piece of advice. There is no need to assume you have to act like you've been bitten by some wild animal and contracted the rabies virus, that's taking a way too simplified look at things, and may suggest you haven't been around too many places.

My response in support of Silverboy comes from personal experience as well. You cannot put on a smiling face. Think of yourself as being in a "tough" neighborhood back home where you can't look naive and you need to be more aware. In the USA we call this being "street smart". Indeed with all the fake good will, trickery, and flat out lying in china you need to protect yourself. Newbies have the disadvantage of not having enough experience dealing with local chinese people when they come to china. Depending on how smart they are they will adjust accordingly, lest they enjoy being stomped, walked all over, and treaded on like some cheap plastic floormat from a public bathhouse.

Many chinese will automatically believe that any expat who is working in china hasn't "made it" from their country and has gone there to eat out of the hands of the mighty. One solid word of advice for anyone who is there is to not be too nice when doing things like asking where something is in the supermarket or asking for directions somewhere. If you carry yourself like you hate everyone around you on some level, for some reason the courtesy comes to you more often. Acting all googly eyed at everything will net you nothing but abuse. You have to realize that if you're going to live in china then you are in a different country, and people react differently. Back home maybe others will reciprocate your demeanor and attitude in kind, but in some places the dynamics of communicating work upside down.