LOOK OUT! – A Reflection on the Rules of the Road in China.

(Written in the TBC library, due to the fact my MacBook is still temporarily out of comission.)

At all intersections in Beijing, and in most street intersection in the smaller cities I've visited in China so far, one can find traffic lights more or less like the ones we have back home, where a flashing red light signals “Stop”, a green lights means “Go”, and so on. However, after residing in China for a few weeks now, I’ve come to the conclusion that these are all just suggestions for the drivers more than anything … as are crosswalks, and the painted lines that divide the streets into theoretical lanes.

It's as if the roads are no more than asphalt rivers of complete and total anarchy, and daring to cross them always seems to turn into a veritable odyssey to reach the other side in one piece. From what I've seen, the right of way for pedestrians is nonexistent, at best. Every time I try to cross any given street, I find myself in a real-life version of Frogger, except for the fact that I have no extra lives to rely on if I'm not alert enough. This is all further compounded by the special lanes that exists here for bicycles, motorbikes, and all other forms of two-wheeled transportation. That means you have as much a chance as having an unpleasant and messy encounter with these as you do with any truck, car or public bus.

Needless to say, every journey that I've taken on a tour bus has been quite the heart-stopping experience; I honestly can't count how many times I've realized that a driver managed to successfully make sure that the line dividing the lanes was directly under the center of the bus.

Despite the sheer insanity that I've witnessed on the roads, oddly enough, I have yet to witness an actual accident. According to a friend, although they will come oh so close, no driver here would dare hit anyone, because the penalties that they would have to incur are frighteningly severe. However, I have trouble believing this, mainly because of the several strong counterarguments I've heard from the several buses that have almost flattened me. So, for now, point of view on driving etiquette here is akin to the opinion of a friend who once cracked, “In Mandarin, pedestrian has two meanings – 'walking person,’ and ‘target practice’”.