It is indeed a shame that good manners are only been "attempted" once a month. But is a campaign like this any different from some of the western ones like Earth Day, or Black Month, etc? Those only come around once a year. On the other hand, I don't know what else there is to do about the lack of manners for most Chinese. The government has conducted campaign after campaign, and schools certainly preach about them over and over. And many Chinese seem to be able to adapt to the more courteous practices when they move to the west. So it's not likely a problem of inadequate education.

Most people here are pretty easy to live alongside, so it's perplexing that the authorities have had such problems with this. Perhaps they should stick to simpler things, like controlling the weather.

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And many Chinese seem to be able to adapt to the more courteous practices when they move to the west. So it's not likely a problem of inadequate education.

I don't think it is a problem of inadequate education, either. I think maybe it might lie in such a fact that China used to be an agriculture-oriented feudalistic society for a long time with, which is characterized by small-scale family farming economy(小农经济). In such a society, people have little opportunity to cooperate with many others to finish a complicated job. They live separately almost in "never contact with each other 老死不相往来" way for the poor traffic condition and "self-sufficiency 自给自足" for their low productivity. Therefore there is no very clear idea of "society belongs to all people living in it" in their mind. Instead, their ideology has very strong sense of themselves and their own families. You won't be surprised to see someone with a university degree spits on the ground or cuts in line from time to time, even in a big city.

Since industrialization and economy reform have been practicing thoroughly in China, Chinese people will change their ideology gradually.