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Sharing the road
(Santa Barbara News-Press (CA) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Mar. 27--Some Chamber of Commerce members from Santa Barbara were slightly bemused during a drive through Beijing to hear their guide say the preferred way of getting around in the Chinese capital is via BMW.
As the visitors scanned the streets for signs of even one of the luxury German autos, Zhang Fengli explained the joke: "Bikes, motorcycles and walking."
Indeed, bicycles are everywhere in Beijing. According to Ms. Fengli, this ancient city is home to about 13 million people, 2.5 million vehicles and 9 million bikes.
It was the same story in the sprawling metropolis of Shanghai and other cities visited during the chamber's hectic weeklong tour.
Cyclists were thick on the many dedicated bike roads running parallel to the main traffic routes as well as on all the other smaller streets.
Something all those cyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians must learn early on in China is that they have virtually no road-user rights -- apparently, the highway rules have yet to be written.
Generally, the bigger you are, the more right of way you have. So trucks and buses are near the top of the pecking order, followed by cars, motorcycles, bikes and, finally, the lowly pedestrian.
A single, short tap on the horn means "that's my space and I'm coming through." It's used at high speed on the open road to warn other vehicles not to change lanes and on slow-moving city streets to maintain a minimum of clear space around the front bumper.
For cyclists this means constantly weaving around vehicles and other bicyclists, but always being ready to give way; similarly, people on foot, even at a green "walk" sign or at a pedestrian crossing, must be prepared to stand back and let every other road user go first.
Indeed, cars, taxis and other vehicles will just keep aiming straight for pedestrians, even the very old or women struggling along with small children, until they stop, stand back and let the motor traffic through.
Remarkably, despite hundreds of slow-motion near-misses, accidents weren't common.
Once, a clatter on the road was heard and a young woman, still wearing a big smile, could be seen picking up her bike in the middle of an intersection.
The Buddhist- and Taoist-dominated Chinese definitely have a Zen thing going when they take to the road, and despite all the apparent anarchy, the Santa Barbara visitors saw little evidence of Western-style road rage.
Just as most drivers here accept they will regularly have to slow down and stop at red lights and don't get upset about it, so the Chinese seem to regard the many obstacles along the road that cause them to slow, swerve or stop as unimportant and inevitable parts of any journey.
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