Shanghai expatriate Ben Bryant ended up with less than he bargained for after complaining to colleague Shaun Fang about Chinese people spitting on the street. "If I could have one kuai every time I saw someone spitting, I'd be a rich man" claimed Bryant.

Fang agreed to pay up, but to Bryant's surprise, he didn't encounter as much spitting as he'd previously recalled. Indeed by the end of the first week, Fang had given Bryant just three kuai. "Goddamit!" complained Bryant. "When I came to Shanghai I was sure I would be walking through a river of phlegm. How dare China not live up to my stereotypes?"