Chinese Rules Of The Road

February 2001

Travel gives the opportunity to see life in a fresh light, from a new perspective. It is a chance to see what is home for others, a chance to expand our views and admire the creativity of the human race. But then after a certain point, there is no place like home. A place where you know in your very bones the ins and outs of life. Where you move through daily life with ease and knowing. The first clue that Tim was ready for our US home came one morning when he came across a stack of red 'lucky money' envelopes. He let out a weary sounding sigh and said the thought of going through another Chinese new year made him feel tired.

And it was at this point that I suggested we go for a bike ride. As we were riding along, Tim on his black delivery bike and me on the 'Bumblebee', I got excited at the thought of getting out of Austin Villa, the development we live in. It was late February and a classic California day of 75 degrees, sunny, low humidity, and a gentle breeze. I was jazzed and commented how we were off for an adventure. A cloud came over Tim's face and he requested I not use that phrase. So, trying to reassure him I said how we were just going out for a two mile bike ride and it was a pretty low risk sort of outing and would be fun. The cloud continued to hover over his head as he explained that just because we hadn't gotten hurt on the road didn't mean we weren't in a high risk situation. He then commented on the Chinese driving style and although I saw his point, the weather and the thought of a change in scenery outweighed the weight of his comments. In my mind, I was off on an adventure.

It was like many of our bike rides. Traffic was not heavy, but very chaotic, organic, whatever... There is a Chinese custom of honking your horn as you are coming up behind someone, undoubtedly to let them you know you are there, but its effect on me is a bit different than its effect on the natives. Locals here may recognize the signal, although they don't usually acknowledge, and everyone just squishes around and keeps moving. I, on the other hand, get a blast of adrenaline with every blare of a horn, and tend to want to leap into the ditch. It does make for tiring travel. But yesterday, I am proud to say, I noticed I had developed a new level of 'selective hearing'. We biked along, getting constantly honked at and only a couple times did I feel that it was something I needed to outwardly respond to. This was when they laid on the horn for an extended amount of time. This usually seems to mean, get out of the way or else. As usual, traffic wildly zigzagged all over the road.

The Chinese roads are a mystery to me. It is as if one culture of people came in and established the roads, lines on the roads, and roundabouts and then they all left. Then another culture of people, unfamiliar with the first group moved in and decided to just use this system in some other way. I am still figuring that other way out. I say that because people just move on them, any direction they please, to get from one place to other. Gas driven vehicles usually travel in one direction on each side of the road, but not always. Roads are often divided down the middle with a meridian and fencing. This is good, but can give a false sense of security also. One thing that has not been planned when creating these meridians is places for folks to turn onto side streets. So, of course people just turn at the closest one, drive against the traffic for maybe a block or so before their turn. When you get to your turn, there are cars wanting to turn towards you so what do you do? Honk and proceed with the degree of courage that your size and speed can demand. Throw in the ever present road construction, women sweeping the roads -- yes, sweeping the roads -- and it is a real scene. What seems so strange is that there is a lot of sweeping of loose bits of debris off roads, but there is a lot of trash next to the roads. This I have never seen anyone picking up. It's one of the many mysteries of the orient for me. You have to watch the road surface as you ride too. They have widened the roads over time and moved the light poles, but a chunk of the base of the poles remains poking up through the cement. Then there are the many pedestrians and bicyclists that insist on moving the opposite direction of the main flow of traffic, and -- no doubt about it, it is not a low risk outing. Tim was right, again, as usual. He loves it when I say that...