This qualitative research study aimed to understand the unique diabetes management behaviours displayed by Chinese patients and was designed to inform tailoring of diabetes education according to their needs. The researcher employed an ethnographic methodology and collected data via participant-observation of 39 diabetes education sessions and 22 in-depth interviews with facilitating-clinicians in Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Sydney, Melbourne and Western Australia. Data were analysed with NVivo using a thematic analysis approach. Three themes emerged from the analysed data. Firstly, the Chinese patients believed that adopting a healthy lifestyle for diabetes management is achieved by individual willpower and determination. Keeping themselves healthy was seen to be the duty of each citizen, to achieve harmony within the collective society. Secondly, they were always agreeable to recommendations from clinicians and only needed to be told clearly what to do for them to then try and be completely compliant. They prefer prescriptive rather than more flexible individualistic advice. Thirdly, Chinese patients are active learners. They like to teach themselves how to manage their diabetes from books and then share this knowledge among their peers. This made structured diabetes education facilitated by clinicians seemed less attractive comprising only yet another source of health information. This study examines how diabetes care services may become more culturally appropriate and provides strategies clinicians could employ to facilitate behavioural change for the Chinese patients.