交通情况 - 畅通 (暂时)!
Most of you know that I am not a fan of crowds. Since the "Millennium Countdown Scare", I have successfully evaded all New Year's Eve celebrations that involved being squished like sardines by intoxicated, smelly, overtly happy strangers. I also could not fathom the fun in paying high prices for food and beverages, having to stand in ridiculously long lines for everything, inconvenience in using the loo, and standing out in the cold in what often seems to be "a record low temperature for New Year's Eve!" I only relented last year in Taiwan because: 1) I <3 Winnie Wu; 2) I was out of my regular state of mind being overly giddy with my long-awaited trip to Taiwan.
You're probably thinking why on earth am I living in China then? A country of 1.4 billion people with 99% of them having no regards for the concept of personal space?
Evan's fault la.
In my past two years of living in Beijing, I have also witnessed firsthand Beijing's rapid descend with a traffic situation that would soon rival Bangkok's.
Sidenote: Some people talk about the traffic and the weather as conversation fillers -- kinda like "oh gosh, I THINK you are my colleague but I'm not entirely sure so I'll just ask you about the traffic" -- but not me. I enjoy learning about traffic patterns, metro lines, and bus routes. From time to time, my teammates would say things like "oh, but I guess you probably don't know much about this in Beijing because you're not from here." In the past few months however, these local Beijingers have popped their heads over my cubicle, asking, "so if I want to go to XX, which is the best mode of transportation if I want it to be fast with the fewest transfers?"
We used to be able to judge quite accurately what the traffic situation would be like at different times of the day at different parts of the city. In the past year however, traffic flow in Beijing has become more...predictable. My conversations with taxi drivers used to take variations of -- "I'm so glad there's no jam!" to "this is unbelievable!" to "hm, traffic is heavier on this street compared to if you had taken the other route" to "20 more minutes and this would not be so pretty" -- but now, it's almost always "哇天！都什么时间啦，怎么总是那么堵!" "For goodness' sake! What time is it already? Why is it always congested!" (it's funnier in Chinese, really)
Not only am I almost always found on the streets, shivering in the unforgiving Beijing winter winds waiting for a taxi or bus, I also almost always end up underarm-to-cheek in buses.
Which is why I was pleasantly surprised this year when I returned after the official Chinese New Year holiday to find Beijing's traffic flow to be like what is illustrated below on this map: Green for 畅通
Image from the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau taken on Feb. 12, 2011 (3.30pm)
From Wednesday till Friday, I was basically bouncing on my feet with a 傻笑 (silly smile) on my face being on streets, at bus stops and in buses with 70% less people than there usually is. As a colleague, who is a Beijing native, adequately put it, "I bet Beijingers' 开心指数 Happiness Index went up by a few points in the past week."
I could leave work at 6.30pm, get on my bus within 10 minutes and even have a seat!
Good things in life, like the Harry Potter series, have to eventually come to an end. The number of cars on the road this morning have noticeably increased; the number of colleagues still on annual leave have also dwindled from 20 in the last two days to 6 today. Oh well, at least there are 5 more days (China only allows its general public to play with fireworks/firecrackers from the eve till the 15th day of Chinese New Year) for all the kiddies in the neighborhood to welcome me home every night with firecrackers at our entrance.
XXXXX
Coincidentally, a friend of ours, Dan, recently had his article up on The Atlantic's legendary China hand, James Fallows' blog. The article, titled, Is This Beijing's Suburban Future? touched on the recent opening of Beijing's 5 new subway lines last December to explore the capital's massive expansion plans that are constantly plagued with headline grabbing controversies (think self-torching in forced evictions) and the numerous challenges in sustaining such breakneck population growth with diminishing resources.
Dan writes:
"Beijing's growth also raises questions about the provision of basic services and infrastructure. The growing population of migrant workers -- none of whom have a Beijing hukou, or residence permit -- does not have the same access to schools and healthcare that local Beijingers do. And most of the best schools and hospitals are still in the city itself. Garbage disposal is a massive (and smelly) issue. The fastest growing portion of China's energy use is in buildings, according to the US-based Natural Resources Defense Council. Beijing does not have enough water. Rapid urban expansion into the countryside has even created the danger of a shortage of farmland. The list goes on."
Dan aptly describes this phenomenon in the following words: "the stakes in this race between planning and growth couldn't be higher."
You're probably thinking why on earth am I living in China then? A country of 1.4 billion people with 99% of them having no regards for the concept of personal space?
Evan's fault la.
In my past two years of living in Beijing, I have also witnessed firsthand Beijing's rapid descend with a traffic situation that would soon rival Bangkok's.
Sidenote: Some people talk about the traffic and the weather as conversation fillers -- kinda like "oh gosh, I THINK you are my colleague but I'm not entirely sure so I'll just ask you about the traffic" -- but not me. I enjoy learning about traffic patterns, metro lines, and bus routes. From time to time, my teammates would say things like "oh, but I guess you probably don't know much about this in Beijing because you're not from here." In the past few months however, these local Beijingers have popped their heads over my cubicle, asking, "so if I want to go to XX, which is the best mode of transportation if I want it to be fast with the fewest transfers?"
We used to be able to judge quite accurately what the traffic situation would be like at different times of the day at different parts of the city. In the past year however, traffic flow in Beijing has become more...predictable. My conversations with taxi drivers used to take variations of -- "I'm so glad there's no jam!" to "this is unbelievable!" to "hm, traffic is heavier on this street compared to if you had taken the other route" to "20 more minutes and this would not be so pretty" -- but now, it's almost always "哇天！都什么时间啦，怎么总是那么堵!" "For goodness' sake! What time is it already? Why is it always congested!" (it's funnier in Chinese, really)
Not only am I almost always found on the streets, shivering in the unforgiving Beijing winter winds waiting for a taxi or bus, I also almost always end up underarm-to-cheek in buses.
Which is why I was pleasantly surprised this year when I returned after the official Chinese New Year holiday to find Beijing's traffic flow to be like what is illustrated below on this map: Green for 畅通
Image from the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau taken on Feb. 12, 2011 (3.30pm)
From Wednesday till Friday, I was basically bouncing on my feet with a 傻笑 (silly smile) on my face being on streets, at bus stops and in buses with 70% less people than there usually is. As a colleague, who is a Beijing native, adequately put it, "I bet Beijingers' 开心指数 Happiness Index went up by a few points in the past week."
I could leave work at 6.30pm, get on my bus within 10 minutes and even have a seat!
Good things in life, like the Harry Potter series, have to eventually come to an end. The number of cars on the road this morning have noticeably increased; the number of colleagues still on annual leave have also dwindled from 20 in the last two days to 6 today. Oh well, at least there are 5 more days (China only allows its general public to play with fireworks/firecrackers from the eve till the 15th day of Chinese New Year) for all the kiddies in the neighborhood to welcome me home every night with firecrackers at our entrance.
XXXXX
Coincidentally, a friend of ours, Dan, recently had his article up on The Atlantic's legendary China hand, James Fallows' blog. The article, titled, Is This Beijing's Suburban Future? touched on the recent opening of Beijing's 5 new subway lines last December to explore the capital's massive expansion plans that are constantly plagued with headline grabbing controversies (think self-torching in forced evictions) and the numerous challenges in sustaining such breakneck population growth with diminishing resources.
Dan writes:
"Beijing's growth also raises questions about the provision of basic services and infrastructure. The growing population of migrant workers -- none of whom have a Beijing hukou, or residence permit -- does not have the same access to schools and healthcare that local Beijingers do. And most of the best schools and hospitals are still in the city itself. Garbage disposal is a massive (and smelly) issue. The fastest growing portion of China's energy use is in buildings, according to the US-based Natural Resources Defense Council. Beijing does not have enough water. Rapid urban expansion into the countryside has even created the danger of a shortage of farmland. The list goes on."
Dan aptly describes this phenomenon in the following words: "the stakes in this race between planning and growth couldn't be higher."