There is an obvious answer and a not so obvious answer - but both maybe equally true.

The obvious answer is cowardice and insecurity.

The not so obvious answer is he wants you to hurt him but he wants witnesses present when it happens. He would report to the police that a foreigner attacked him in an unprovoked manner and then get his mates to corroborate it. I'll leave you to guess what comes next.

Why so many downvotes? Would it have been better to wait and let the guy attack me? Preemptive self defense is needed sometimes.

The funny thing is thay the friends wouldnt have shown up anyways. Maybe late in a bar they might. But people have called for backup before. No one comes. There are no real true friends. So some Chinese guy getting a call at dinner time to leave his family, drive over and get knocked out by a foreigner just isnt happening.

As a serious answer I don't think a fair fight means what it does to us. All that matters is that you won. It doesn't matter if you had to get 6 guys to take on one dude and put him in the hospital.

A lot of us in the west might've heard from our dads or other role models that even if you lose a fight there is value just in standing up to somebody trying to bully you.

Like theres nothing wrong with walking away with a black eye from standing up to somebody bigger than you, can hold your head high about that. But there is something wrong with getting pushed around and not defending yourself.

I just dont think parents raise their kids here to think like that at all for better or worse. Bully must be bigger/more powerful than you so dont make problems for them just deal with it.

Western parents teach their children to stand up in the face of evil, there is no honor in running away or hiding.

Chinese parents teach their kids to run away and hide whenever they see danger, to lose a fight is to lose face.

And yes, most definitely yes, Chinese men are cowards. I have seen the same guy aggressively HALUOing me with his friends but crossing the street when alone after he saw me. Men raised in the big cities especially are weak as f*ck both physically and mentally, can't stand for themselves. The Nongs at least have big mouths and are outspoken.

this is a failure of Chinese (grand)parenting. Because of the way grandparents constantly tell little kids to not do this, not do that, they never get to do this and that. A fact of life is, sometimes we get into a fight. Trying to avoid this creates pathetic weak people. 

Teaching kids that fighting, although not a thing to be encouraged, is OK, as long as it is one on one and as long as it stops when the other guy starts crying. 

The upbringing means poor social skills and a lot of people desperately seeking acceptance so they try anything. After all, they are just humans, and the weak looser wearing a tshirt saying "Sweat is weakness leaving the body" despite being a bit of a blob of fat, is not to be blamed, but the society he grew up in is. 

If a Chinese guy took up shadow boxing, he would end up so badly beaten it would take six months in hospital for him to recover!

I've only been in one fight during my time in China, although one is enough. I was walking home late one night with some friends, three lads were calling out some nasty things at us from across the road, to get our attention I assumed. We ignored them and they followed. Insults got worse and worse until I shouted something back, though I won't say what is was.

That was it, it was on! They crossed the road and came up to us. I remember going straight for the closest guy and giving him an uppercut straight to the gut. I must have winded him because he fell right on his ass. At that point we all ran like hell. No one gave chase so we presumed his mates were helping him to his feet.

Yup that's it, my grand story. But there is something to be learned from all of this....

Never unplug the microwave. 

Chewy, just be careful with actions like that. Dont let that one instance embolden you in the future. Im NOT saying "be a coward", but rather you could find yourself in a situation where 5-10 random chinese men come to help out their "comrade", even though they dont know him (or you), and he was the one who started it. You could end up severely beaten,or even possibly get beat to death. Asians/Asian culture is like that, its different. Im not saying this in a negative context, but rather in a realistic one. "Check yourself before you wreck yourself". cheers.

I've seen a couple of 'fights' in China... actually quite amusing! It looks like both parties are actively trying NOT to hit the other person... all the while, goading the other. And, of course, the flying kicks... which are quite hilarious! Not only are they incredibly off-balance, but they're so far off target... I think watching all those martial arts movies as kids has put really stupid ideas into their heads!

So, for the most part - if you got involved in something like that, you'd probably be safer just standing your ground, and letting them injure themselves pretending to hit you!

Just to be clear. you ask him what his problem is (In Mandarin) and he just says sum racist bull to you.(In Mandarin) and then you threaten to knock him out (In Mandarin) and he walks outside.  You followed him outside and listen to him (probably speaking in Mandarin or his local dialect) He is on the phone calling (in Mandarin) his friends.

You have a great Chinese teacher, in such a short period of time, you are able to fluently engage with the locals.

Im not a big fan of violence and tend to try and avoid it
But there are those that take the walk away as a green light to get physical
And that is when it comes down to fight or flight
Put in a corner will not end well for anybody