More on the Sleeping Giant

After yesterday's post on the prevalence of Chinese people sleeping in public places, I got many responses saying that this was merely a sign of how hard-working the country was -- everyone is exhausted! True enough, in many cases. But, as reader John Neville points out, unremitting physical toil might not be the only explanatory factor:

I have to agree, the Chinese are napping maniacs.  I teach at a university in Wuhan, where on my first day I was told that the couch in my office is there for sleeping on, not sitting. Any teachers or administrators who come to my office during the lunch  break always close the door behind them as they leave, so as to give  me more privacy for napping (I've still never once slept on that  couch, but I guess they hope that some day I will).  I need to get some pictures of people sleeping on the rattling, wildly careening and hard-breaking buses that make up the Wuhan bus fleet.

I'll simply leave it as an interesting -- to me -- aspect of contemporary Chinese life.