Viktoria Goes Abroad: The traffic fun

I guess there are some traffic rules here and lights work quite well, just everybody seems to ignore it perfectly. People drive their vehicles like crazy; buses, taxis, cars and motorbikes are everywhere, literally fighting for their little piece of road. The only rule is that there are no rules. Overtaking from the ride side? No problem. To survive, you need just one little thing – any kind of functional vehicle horn. During my first days here, I was afraid to cross the road, because I was afraid I might just get killed. Now? I run through six-lane road with twenty children, crosswalk nowhere in my sight. It is casual here, right? I just hope, that my kids have superhero-quick reactions, because the drivers are very lazy to even slow down a little bit, and it doesn't really matter if you are using crosswalk or not.

Sidewalks are not much better for me. Only after you take care after bunch of Chinese teenagers in the city of two and half million inhabitants, you can say you know what it is like to look for a needle in a haystack. There is usually distance of a one kilometer between the quickest and the slowest one and I guess we would need the same number of students and teachers to really look after each and every one of them.

I already got used to the fact that Chinese people drive anything that has the wheels attached. They are usually very creative in customizing their vehicles according to their needs. The most popular are sunshades or similar things protecting the drivers from the sun. And I have also come across one guy, who had a fan attached to his steering wheel, so that it blows cold air right into his face. The sight of the whole family (father, mother and child) on one motorbike is not rare here. Only responsible minority of people wears a helmet. You can even catch a taxi-motorbike, but I haven’t tried it yet, normal taxi seems to me fun enough.

Travelling around small (Chinese -small, not European small) cities is basically cheap. One or two Yuans (around 0,11 EUR) will get you from one side of the city to another one, when travelling by bus. Only front door is used for getting on, as you have to pay by throwing the money (coins as well as paper money) into the funny crapping box. You get seldom any kind of ticket in return. And don't hesitate when getting of the bus, some drivers don't really wait for anybody - we tried couple of times how adventurous it is when you jump out of the bus already moving.

For shorter distances, say three or four kilometers, you might as well use the taxi, if you are in the group of four people as it would cost probably almost the same.

I am adding some pictures, so that you can enjoy the "traffic culture" in China too.