Eric's Beijing Diary

Traffic. Cars have the right of way in China, and don't you forget it. Crossing the street is fascinating; it reminds me of dodgeball. Actually, it's not a big problem for me, because I have never been suicidal. But there are some things which give me pause.. I don't know why they have crosswalks here...they don't seem to have much meaning. I'm sure they actually do mean something, I just haven't figured out what yet. The other day, I was walking with Piano, and we came to an intersection. Piano said, "OK, we should go now." I could see that the walk signal was very red, but "ours is not to reason why," as they say. After we had crossed the street I said, "Why did you decide that it was OK to cross when the light was red? Piano said, "Chinese believe their eyes." Seems like a good idea if you think about it.

I'm making it sound worse than it is. All the busy streets have bicycle lanes, so that's good. I must admit that I get a little frustrated with all the bicycles going the wrong direction, unless I am the one who is going the wrong direction, in which case I get a little frustrated with all the bicycles going the right direction, which is even more challenging. I guess it's all the same in the end. One thing that baffles me is the way some people prefer to walk in the bicycle lane. Great big sidewalk right beside them, but they prefer to walk in the street. Don't know why...I guess it makes them feel shorter. And it's really irritating when some impatient cab driver gets out of line and starts driving down the bicycle lane right toward you. Ocassionally I will square up with them to see if I can get them to chicken out, but they never look worried. But the very worst are the motorcycles. It's just not fair. And I'm talking about real motorcycles. I didn't even mention the motorized bicycles. They move along at a pretty good clip. And watch out for the busses. They usually don't drive in the bicycle lane, but when they decide to pull over and stop, you don't want to be there.