When I went home to the United States last summer, I couldn’t wait to drive. I don’t own a car in Beijing, and it had been more than a year since I’d been behind the wheel.
I missed that free feeling of an open highway, stereo up and windows down, the smells of summer whipping your face on a moonlit drive through the country. I missed the ability to go anywhere I wanted, at any time of the day, without having to hail a taxi or cram into a subway full of sweaty young men with no sense of personal space.
But I didn’t miss paying for gas, monthly insurance bills or buying expensive new parts like brakes, tires and radiators. Cars are money suckers, and most begin to depreciate the moment you drive off the lot.
Once I slept off the jet lag of a 20-hour trek from Beijing to Louisville, Kentucky, I grabbed the keys to my 1996 Toyota Avalon and went for a drive with my brother Billy. After I adjusted the seat and rear view mirror, it was a lot like getting back on a bike after not riding for several years. All the driving maneuvers and traffic rules I was taught as a teenager came rushing back. Well, most of them.
While driving through an intersection close to my old high school, a young woman pushing a baby stroller entered a crosswalk and walked into the path of my car. I ignored her and sped through it, coming within inches of the stroller.
The woman froze in horror. “Were you trying to kill her?” my brother asked.
The thought that she would expect me to yield never entered my mind. In Beijing, it’s the other way around. Pedestrians, even the ones pushing strollers, yield for cars. It’s the law of the jungle, and the double-long Beijing buses are king!
These alleys, or hutong, weren’t built for cars.
As a good friend who has lived in China for many years told me, “Traffic rules here are merely suggestions.” Obeying red lights, double yellow lines, speed limits: it’s all optional. I once saw a driver on a busy three-lane interstate stop and back up in the middle of the highway because he had missed an exit.
Some cab drivers seem to enjoy the Wild West nature of the roads. Last winter, after a night out with friends in one of Beijing’s oldest neighborhoods, I stumbled into a taxi in a narrow alley. “Huixin Dongjie,” I said, giving him the name of the street where I lived.
A lit cigarette dangled from the driver’s mouth, and trance music blared from the speakers in the backseat. “O.K. ba!,” he said. Like a horse shooting out of the gate at the Kentucky Derby, he raced down the alley, paying no regard to the fruit vendors jumping out of the way. He laughed with every near miss, as if he was in a video game earning extra points for close calls.
After a while, these experiences become less shocking. They almost seem normal because it’s what you see every day.
In two months, I’ll be going home again. If I were my brother, I’d start shopping for a helmet.
Slightly Reworded 
It’s the law of the jungle, and the double-long Beijing buses are king!
two thumbs up for this!!
Anna brought me here 🙂
Thanks, I appreciate it!
Jimmy
Thanks for reply 😛
I have had the pleasure of being a passenger in many a car ride in many a city in China – Wenzhou, Foshan, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Donguan, etc. The driving in cities like Wenzhou, Donguan, Shenzhen, etc are not for the faint of heart. Very much like the wild wild west and I must admit that I enjoyed it. I wish I had actually been allowed to drive. I found the dirving in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai to be moderate compared to some of the smaller maybe more remote cities.
I’m just continually amazed at the way drivers here are able to squeeze past bikes and other cars, missing them by inches. I guess it’s a skill you acquire after a lot of practice.
You have described it accurately. Even in Feicheng, in Shandong Province, where I worked, traffic lights and laws are “merely suggestions.” I remember my elation the first time I crossed the street by myself.
When I first moved here, I told a friend that I was scared to cross some of the big intersections. He told me I’d be standing out with the locals in the middle of traffic in no time. Sure enough, he was right.
I remember being told during an airport transfer in Egypt, that traffic lights are viewed as merely street decor. Scary!
Haha, that’s a funny way to put it. Thanks for sharing!
Jimmy
Sounds worse than my experiences in Africa proper.
Hi Jimmy,
Great writing…think I’ll stay on the country roads of Spencer County and off the streets of Beijing! blessings! Charlie
Thanks Charlie!
I moved from Australia to the UK. I went back in April for five weeks after being here for four months without driving. It was quite strange to get behind the wheel again even after only four months. Teresa 🙂
I bet! It’ll be 14 months without driving for me this time.
Thanks for sharing,
Jimmy
Awesome. Spent 10 years in Asia myself. I made a point of not driving. Frankly, most of the world drives like the lao bei though.
Thanks for reading. The only other country I’ve been to in Asia is the Philippines, and traffic was just as chaotic in Manila.
Jimmy