Crossing the Road

On my late night run to Carrefour yesterday to buy diapers for the kids, I had a difficult time crossing the street. The intersection was once a large 6 lane street, but now due to construction it’s simply a 2 lane street. You’d think crossing the street should be easier with fewer lanes, but no!

With only 2 recognized lanes, many drivers are unwilling to wait patiently for the traffic lights to change, and are unwilling to follow the painted stripes (aka guidelines or the law) and keep the road to 2 lanes. So the traffic never stops at the light and I was forced to weave my way through gridlocked traffic at this little intersection. I have become great at adopting a Chinese friend and following closely beside them as they navigate the intersection.

Another possible reason for this is the sheer number of cars. Check out these two recent articles detailing December 2009 auto sales for GM and Ford:

GM says China sales up 67 percent in 2009¹ (January 4, 2010, AP)
General Motors Co. said Monday that 2009 sales in China by the company and its local partners rose 67 percent to a record 1.8 million vehicles amid tax cuts and incentives to help boost the industry. GM said its own China sales in December soared 96.6 percent from a year earlier to a new monthly high of 189,793 vehicles.

Ford says China sales up 44 percent in 2009² (January 7, 2010, AP)
Ford Motor Co. said Thursday sales in China by the company and its local partners soared 44 percent in 2009, highlighting the country's key role in driving demand for global automakers amid weak sales elsewhere. The announcement, following GM's report of a 67 percent rise in 2009 sales, reflected the impact of Beijing's 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus plan and incentives to boost car purchases.

So when crossing the road in China, keep your head on a swivel, adopt a road-crossing friend, hold their hand if you dare, and watch out for all those new drivers in their new cars!
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¹ ZGBriefs for January 7, 2010
² ZGBriefs for January 7, 2010