Never Mind The Congestion, Look At The Traffic!
Here's my attempt at some creative writing. Living and working in China gives me many opportunities to write about my experiences. I'd appreciate any comments (positive or otherwise) you may have on my humble jottings.
N.B. 8 Yuan = US$1.00
Being the world’s most populated nation, it’s understandable that the streets of major cities in China are crowded. Zhongzhou is no exception. Not surprisingly, there are few privately owned cars and most of the traffic consists of bicycles, scooters, motorbikes, three-wheeled tricycles and taxis.
The taxis are bright yellow and can be seen all over the city. They are very cheap to hire costing around four Yuan ($0.50) to almost anywhere in the city. I’ve yet to meet a driver who cab speak English, although they are friendly enough. Taxis rarely, if ever, have seatbelts and it’s amazing how the drivers can drive at such a fast pace and never seem to hit anyone. If you hail one on the opposite side of the road they will do a u-turn there and then and pick you up. There appears to be no radio in taxis, the driver depending on passengers hailing him as he passes by.
Another vehicle commonly used by the locals is the tricycle. These rather odd looking modes of transport are available for hire and they charge around 3 Yuan or $0.25 for a ride inside the city area. They have a double seat mounted over the main axle and a canopy helps keep the passengers dry should it rain. The driver of this contraption has some gears but, apart from this, it is simple pedal power that gets the passenger to his or her destination.
Many of the drivers are women and it’s not uncommon to see a slightly built woman pedaling for all she’s worth carrying a party of three or some large, overweight passenger. The drivers of these trishaws, as I’ve heard them called, cruise the city looking for passengers. They will often hail pedestrians asking if they want to travel in the trishaw. When a driver has a rest, he or she will often sit with their legs crossed on the crossbar of the vehicle often smoking a cigarette as they watch the world pass by. The local Chinese will use them, as they are cheaper than a taxi over a short run. If the distance is considerably more, they are more expensive then a taxi. I’ve no doubt that it must be a physically demanding way to make a living.
Buses are another mode of transport and popular with the locals as they are very cheap. Most of the buses are in a rather poor state of repair but they do the job they were intended to do. Whereas a taxi will cost you Y4.00 to the city center, a bus will cost you only Y1.00. The buses are rather small and carry a maximum load of approximately thirty people. During the rush hour the busses can become somewhat crowded and many of the passengers have to stand holding on to straps, which hang from the ceiling of the bus. The drivers are casually dressed and I’ve been on one bus where the driver had a potted plant that he carried on his bus. It must be one of the most traveled plants on the planet.
The traffic in Zhongzhou is utter chaos but there is method in the madness of the streets. What I thought was utter chaos when I first arrived is beginning to look like organized chaos. Pedestrians and drivers appear to know what they are doing and, so far, I’ve only seen one accident in the two weeks I’ve been here. Car horns are very popular here and drivers appear to use them constantly and the streets are filled with the sound of tooting horns. The Chinese use their horns as more of a warning than as a form of punishment as in the West. Horns are used to tell other drivers or pedestrians “I’m coming through and you’d better get out of the way.” rather than “how dare you do that!” as it is in the majority of western countries. It’s all starting to make sense to me know.
Crossing the road was a nightmare when I first arrived. Vehicles do not stop at pedestrian crossings with the exception of those crossings with lights and even that is no guarantee that some vehicle won’t nose its way through the crossing pedestrians. At first I would just blindly follow the people I was with at the time. I then realized that, if you kept your wits about you and your ears and eyes open, you could make it to the other side of the road in one piece. The trick is to wait for a gap in the traffic and slowly inch your way across the road constantly looking left and right. I say this because it’s not uncommon for a vehicle, driving on the wrong side of the road, to suddenly surprise you. If you get to the center of the street, you then focus your attention to the vehicles approaching from the opposite side to those you have just passed. But be wary, you may encounter a driver driving on the wrong side of the road on the second half of your crossing. It appears that the rule “Drive on the right” is open to interpretation in China. The golden rule is: never assume. Trust no one and always make yourself as obvious as possible. I like to wear bright colors myself or wave my umbrella.
Crossing the road at night is a greater risk. Not so much from the cars and taxis as these are generally well lit up. The greatest danger comes from bicycles or scooters with no lights. Just when you think it’s safe to cross the road, a cyclist with no lights will swoop on you from out of the darkness and frighten the living daylights out of you – sometimes on the wrong side of the road. If you’re lucky enough not to be hit, the driver of the unlit bicycle will usually leave you with an incomprehensible mouthful of abuse. I’ve come to the conclusion that the safest way to cross the road is not to, unless, of course, it’s absolutely necessary.
By far, the most popular mode of transport in China is the ubiquitous bicycle. There must be millions of them in The People’s Republic of China. You will see them in their thousands in streets, parking lots, factory grounds and schoolyards, often parked neatly in rows. Helmets, unlike some western countries, are not compulsory and it appears quite acceptable for two or even three people to ride on a single bicycle. It’s not uncommon to see a husband pedaling his bicycle with his wife and child also aboard. School children will often give their friend a lift on the back of their bicycle on the way to and from school. Bicycle repair shops are very common and repairs are often made from anything that comes to hand.
As China prospers, more and more people are turning to scooters. These sensible vehicles are becoming more and more common and a definite symbol of the growing middle classes. They are rather neat little machines, which dart in and out of the traffic. Apart from the obvious benefits of being more environmentally friendly that the motor car, they are cheaper to buy, more cost effective to run and easier to park. Many enterprising Chinese have started small businesses parking and guarding scooters while their owner goes shopping or to work. Each scooter has a small alarm fitted, which omits a shrill continuous whistle, rather like a large bird, if the vehicle is interfered with in any way. Sometimes, as with car alarms in the west, they will occasionally go off for no aparent reason.
The traffic in China may have nightmarish qualities to the western visitor, but to the average Chinese it somehow all makes sense. As I said earlier, I’ve only seen one accident since arriving in China so they must be doing something right.
Bohanka
