Let me talk about the
driving in Beijing for a moment. Beijing is hands down the worst city ever for
traffic. Italy is all puppies and rainbows compared to this place. We
legitimately almost die about 5-8 times every morning and every evening on our
way to and from work. People, do the math, that's an average of 32.5 times a
working week that I'm potentially ending up in a body bag.
These people just don't
give a fuck. Pedestrians having the right away? Ha! Stopping at red lights? Not
a chance. A motorbike with a toddler on the back? Hope that kid has a good
grip, nobody is stopping for any babies over here.
Our driver Mr. Liu (who
probably wears a No Fear t-shirt underneath his polo every day), didn't blink
an eye Wednesday morning when he pulled his minivan out in front of tour
bus going 50MPH. He's half race car driver, half ninja chauffeur. He sees a
half inch opening, goes for it, and doesn't flinch. And yes, you read
correctly, it's a MINIVAN! Today he saw an opening on the shoulder and he went
for it. We crossed a bridge then drove straight for 3 cars merging onto the
highway with no slowing down. Mr. Liu is all, "whatevs, I own these
streets." We tried to dodge around a rickshaw the other day and once we
got around it we were driving straight for an oncoming truck. Rick and I just
closed our eyes and he swerved out of the way and back into our lane. This guy
doesn't break a sweat. A slight bit of anxiety hits me when he pulls out his
phone to chat as we're squeezing in between a mac truck, a tour bus, and there
are two cars driving straight at us. Somehow, we squeak out of every close
call. It's total chaos, but somehow it works.
You know what will get you
killed here? Obeying the rules and driving like a normal person. In fact, I'd
probably do pretty well driving here.
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