[kyllo]

The attitude in China is that if you don't cheat, you're the fool--because the other guy is certainly cheating you. So everyone lies, cheats, and steals (while of course maintaining a thin veneer of plausible deniability) to avoid being the bigger fool.

This probably is related to the fact that China is a shame-based culture rather than a guilt-based culture. What I mean by that is, people there only feel bad about immoral/unethical behavior if and when they get caught. Wrongdoing is externalized, it exists only in the eyes of others.

"How do you sleep at night?" Is a question Americans often ask when they know someone is getting away with morally wrong or criminal behavior. In China, you will not hear an equivalent question.