Traffic
I just spent the last couple weeks in China. I know, it's awesome, right? I got to see all sorts of neat and fun stuff, as well as several places that were several hundred (even a couple thousand) years old. The people were friendly and the weather was smoggy.
However, there was one thing that stood out to me more than anything else in the cities of Beijing and Shanghai... The traffic.
There are millions of cars on the roads, and that number increases by several thousands a day. However, the entire time I was there, I saw 1 accident, and that was in the country on the way to the great wall. If a car needed to get through a busy intersection, or switch multiple lanes, or pull out into a busy street, it always could (including our tour busses) without any real hesitation or problem. The only honking was to let other people know you were there just in case. Not angry honking like you get here, but courteous honking. Turning left? no problem! Just start going and other cars will stop for you.
Today in Mt. Pleasant, I was waiting to turn left onto Mission out of McDonalds. I sat there for several minutes until finally a bald guy in a pick-up truck left a gap for me while everyone was stopped. I hesitated, but then started pulling out slowly, because there was still oncoming traffic in the other lane. As I was in front of the truck, cautiously pacing the other traffic for a gap, the truck started inching forward. I kept moving into the left turn lane so I could get out of his way and wait for a gap, and the guy yelled at me out his window that I was in the turn lane. I wanted to yell "No shit, Sherlock!" but I held my tongue and pulled out into the gap that had appeared, and went on my merry way.
First of all, if you leave a gap for someone, then don't yell at them when they take it. Second of all, if this were in china, I would never have needed to wait so long. I could have just gone, and people would have made room. Americans are very rude and selfish, especially when it comes to traffic. I think it should be required in Driver's Ed for everyone to go and spend a day driving around Beijing. We'd have a lot fewer accidents here, for one.
--NosBrian
However, there was one thing that stood out to me more than anything else in the cities of Beijing and Shanghai... The traffic.
There are millions of cars on the roads, and that number increases by several thousands a day. However, the entire time I was there, I saw 1 accident, and that was in the country on the way to the great wall. If a car needed to get through a busy intersection, or switch multiple lanes, or pull out into a busy street, it always could (including our tour busses) without any real hesitation or problem. The only honking was to let other people know you were there just in case. Not angry honking like you get here, but courteous honking. Turning left? no problem! Just start going and other cars will stop for you.
Today in Mt. Pleasant, I was waiting to turn left onto Mission out of McDonalds. I sat there for several minutes until finally a bald guy in a pick-up truck left a gap for me while everyone was stopped. I hesitated, but then started pulling out slowly, because there was still oncoming traffic in the other lane. As I was in front of the truck, cautiously pacing the other traffic for a gap, the truck started inching forward. I kept moving into the left turn lane so I could get out of his way and wait for a gap, and the guy yelled at me out his window that I was in the turn lane. I wanted to yell "No shit, Sherlock!" but I held my tongue and pulled out into the gap that had appeared, and went on my merry way.
First of all, if you leave a gap for someone, then don't yell at them when they take it. Second of all, if this were in china, I would never have needed to wait so long. I could have just gone, and people would have made room. Americans are very rude and selfish, especially when it comes to traffic. I think it should be required in Driver's Ed for everyone to go and spend a day driving around Beijing. We'd have a lot fewer accidents here, for one.
--NosBrian