Chinese culture: Moving chairs in Starbucks

Improbable research finds that there is a north/south (wheat/rice) divide on chairs in Starbucks:

rice farming requires cooperation, due to the need to coordinate irrigation, whereas wheat farming is more independent.

so we have this:

In Study 2, we moved chairs together in Starbucks across the country so that they were partially blocking the aisle (n = 678). People in northern China were more likely to move the chair out of the way, which is consistent with findings that people in individualistic cultures are more likely to try to control the environment. People in southern China were more likely to adjust the self to the environment by squeezing through the chairs. Even in China’s most modern cities, rice-wheat differences live on in everyday life.