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City Traffic Conditions
Manager Review
Author:Tai
Te (Last Modified: 2007-08-04 12:28:02.0)
Traffic in China is crazy! Learn how to cross the street.
If someone new to China were to observe a typical street in a typical Chinese
city at 3am, they would think that everything is quite organized. There
are street lights, and the signs and road markings are clear. Street signs
are written in Chinese characters as well as
Chinese pinyin and sometimes English.
By returning to the same street during the day, one would likely see a
completely different scene. Starting in the morning and ending late in
the evening a typical street in China is crammed with people, bikes, cars and
buses. People cross the street as they please, while bicycles, mopeds,
and motorcycles swerve in and out of traffic. Cars and buses appear to treat
road signs and sometimes even red lights as if they do not exist. Cars
do not stop for pedestrians, and with good reason; if they did they would
never get anywhere.
Traffic in some cities is more organized than previously described.
However, to maximize road safety, always assume that traffic will be somewhat
hectic. If the traffic in a given city appears calm and/or organized, then
consider yourself lucky.
Just to add to the chaos, there is constant construction in the major cities
resulting in many roads being blocked off. In the big cities, the roads
are often quite wide. Four to eight lane roads running through
the center of the city are common. There are also bicycle lanes on the
side of most roads.
Walking - So how do you cross the street in China? Here are some
tips:
1 – Bigger is better.
Never expect a vehicle to stop and let you pass! It seems that traffic
follows the simple pattern that something smaller yields to something bigger.
For example, a person yields to a bike, a bike yields to a car and a car
yields to a bus. However, if a crowd of 10-20 people forms on the side
of the street, prepared to cross the road, then that crowd is bigger than a
car. Therefore crowds will often begin to walk across the street and
cars will stop for them. This doesn’t mean you should always go with
the crowd, but what it does mean is that you should be cautious by not
expecting vehicles to stop and let you pass.
2 – Two heads are better than one.
Hold on to whomever else you are with. Foreigners will quickly notice
that Chinese people hold on to their spouses, partners, children or friends.
This is a cultural trait, but it is also doubles as a smart move when crossing
the road. With two people it is much easier to watch out for unsafe
drivers in both directions.
3 – Overpasses and Underpasses
In the busiest areas of the city, traffic is relatively safer. Busy
downtown areas usually have fences that block pedestrians from moving onto the
road, and fences or dividers that block bikes from wandering into the car and
bus lanes. While a bit indirect, it is always safer to make use of the
overpasses or underpasses above or below major intersections than it is to
directly cross the street.
Cycling
Bicycles remain a major form of transport in most Chinese cities.
Cycling is not only often the most convenient way to travel, but it also lets
you get some exercise and gives you a more spontaneous way to view the city.
We highly suggest riding a bike in China!
When riding a bicycle remember that the rule "bigger is better"
still applies. A bicycle trumps a pedestrian, but not much else.
Similarly, a bicycle towing a cart of steaming dumplings or sweet potatoes
behind it will have some more clout in the road system than an average
bicycle!
Another safety issue to be wary of is that the Chinese system of bicycle
lanes, traffic lights and intersections may be different than that of your
home country. Most large streets have separate bicycle lanes on the
right hand side of traffic. This means to turn left at an intersection
cyclists first pull up to a marking on the road and then wait for the left
turn signal.
The third issue can be made into either a safety issue or fashion issue
depending on your choice. Except for serious cyclists, Chinese people
very rarely wear bicycle helmets. Even two year old children on the back
of a parents’ bike will usually not wear a helmet. Helmets can be
purchased at some department stores and bicycle stores, but even we at
Synotrip understand that wearing a helmet might make you look less cool. To be
fair, the Chinese ride bikes at a rather average pace, as bikes are such a
common form of transportation for people of all ages. Unlike driving a car,
riding a bike in China doesn’t feel like a competition. Therefore if you can
ride a bike safely and competently, not wearing a helmet should not be such a
big deal.
Bicycle theft is an enduring problem. Most people lower their risk by
buying bicycles they can afford to lose and locking their wheels in place
when parked. Bicycle parking lots such as the one shown above also help
prevent theft. Parking your bike only costs a couple mao which is
payable to a parking attendant.
Bicycles can be purchased at department stores or specialty stores. They
can also be rented at some hotels and many hostels. These stores and
rental shops can repair bikes, but the best, cheapest, and most common place
to get bicycles fixed is at small one-man operations on the sidewalk. If
you need something fixed just look for the guy sitting next to a
cart and a bunch of spare bicycle parts. He or she will raise your seat,
grease your chain, put air in your tires, etc for a very cheap price.
Driving
You probably have at least a screw loose if you actually want to learn how to
drive in China. Nevertheless, we here at Synotrip are one step ahead of you
and we’re still alive. Going over all the driving rules is beyond our
responsibility, but please (please)
check
the article on obtaining a drivers license.
Public Transportation
The bus system in a typical Chinese city is massive. However,
the sheer number of passengers is even greater – this means buses are easy
to catch, but often packed. Buses can be convenient for those that want a
cheap ride and either clearly know where they are going or can read Chinese
fairly well. Bus signs always contain Chinese characters and often
include pinyin but rarely have an English translation. Bus rides
within a city typically cost one to three Yuan. Payment is usually made
at the front of the bus by depositing coins or using a transit-card. There
may be a person whose job is specifically to collect payments from customers.
Subway lines are becoming increasingly common. There
are currently about 10 cities in China that have subway lines including
Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Shenzhen, Wuhan and Hong-Kong. Conditions
vary – some are very modern while others were built over 2 decades ago. Some
spotless, others greasy. Some packed, others so empty you may even get a
seat. As far as I know, all should be navigable without the need to read
Chinese. Most have ticketing machines that include English translations. Others
have locations listed in Chinese characters as well as in pinyin and/or
English.
Remember to guard your valuables while taking public
transit! Crowded buses and subway-cars are prime hunting grounds for
pickpockets.
Taxis
Taxis seem to be ever-present in any Chinese city. They
can be hailed easily during most parts of the day and clog the roads during
rush hour. The honking of taxis can be heard early in the morning until
the late evening. Even during the middle of the night, taxis can still be
found outside of clubs or Karaoke joints late at night. Prices usually
start between 6 and 10 Yuan for the first 2 or 3 kilometers. Using taxis
and a Synotrip Itinerary, you should be able to get around many Chinese cities
without having to know a word of Chinese.
The rule-based world of their foreign passengers must
indeed seem so unusual to a typical Chinese taxi driver. From their point
of view traffic laws can be bent and broken as is required. Don’t drive
in the wrong lane towards oncoming traffic? Nonsense! Lanes are only
general guidelines. I can pull in before that bus crushes us. Don’t
cut somebody off? I’m in front so I can do what I want. Obey
the speed-limit? What’s a speed limit?
Luckily, Chinese taxi drivers seem to know the
dimensions of their cars down to the inch. The hectic road conditions
also ensure that they are actively driving rather than passively expecting
other cars on the road to obey the rules. Their combination of
experience, daring and ability to disobey traffic laws inspired a friend of
mine to label them as being “simultaneously the best and worst drivers in
the world.”
Besides official, metered taxis there are also “black
cars” (Heiche, 黑车) as well as three-wheelers. “Black
cars” are unregistered, non-metered taxis. They usually congregate
around entry points such as train-stations, bus-stations and airports. They
are almost always a rip-off! If you are a lost-looking newcomer to a city
you will be overcharged if you take one of these. Take a registered,
metered taxi instead. Three-wheelers are cheap (usually 3-5 yuan for a
short trip) and good for short rides from one tourist-spot to another.
