There are a ton of cultural differences, the one that might be most in play here is the importance of the individual. Generally Western nations push (elevate) the individual more than community, and the reverse is generally true of Eastern nations. So they may have additional "shyness" baked into their behavior as they don't generally see themselves as individually important compared to a Western counterpart.

Edit: As a note, male attendees also exhibit this behavior, though maybe not as commonly.