Originally Posted by TheSquealer

It's very simple. People in large crowds and over populated areas remain indifferent to the needs of one. People also do what people do. In other words, if no one is helping a person in distress and people are around, people are more likely to not help. If someone dives in with great concern and begins to help, others follow. In other words, people for the most part look to what others are doing to determine the correct course of behavior. If a few people form a line for no reason in a place where its reasonable for a line to be formed but unnecessary (say, buying a theater ticket), others will walk up and get in line because its a safe assumption that its the correct thing to do.

Has nothing to do with China. Happens anywhere. Its a well studied fact of human behavior. Plenty of people get brutally attacked, raped or killed in front of bystanders who do nothing, in the US or anywhere else.