Cabbies

Chaotic whirlwind of street madness pretty much sums up the traffic situation in Beijing. It’s every man for himself. I saw an old woman on a rusty bicycle get creamed the other day. She didn’t seem too phased. In fact, traffic doesn’t seem phased by much. It’s midnight and the temperature is in the teens and no doubt there will be a steady stream of bicycles on Wangfujing Street. Yeah, some are wearing scarves around their faces, but some aren’t even wearing hats or gloves. These people are hard core!

And then there are the bicycles that have some kind of jerry-rigged cart on their back axis. Some guy carries a hundred and one brooms, another has a piping hot garbage can with sweet potatoes on top of coals, another carries recyclables, desks, chairs, you name it. Oh yeah, and the people! There is no end to the creative techniques for carrying a person on the back of a bike. I’ve seen babies to old ladies in wheelchairs.

Aaron and I suspect that Beijing is still bustling with bikes because of Communist subsidies in the 50’s. From the looks of some of these doozies, you can tell that they are sixty years old. Surprisingly scooters are comparatively rare. The low average income (under $3000 USD annually in Beijing) probably has something to do with that.

But the saving grace of the whole chaotic whirlwind of street madness is speed or lack thereof. I’ve accidentally stepped in front of some cars and bikes during my 2 weeks in Beijing and their slow pace saved my face. It reminds me of an old rusty button that once adorned my jeep’s visor: Buckle up! Save your ugly face

The pedestrians are pretty nuts too. Jaywalking is either legal or not enforced enough to deter the general public. I’ve learned that the person with the sternest look wins the right away. I’ve given a few looks myself but mine consist of, “If you hit me or my child, I will kill you.” That look has never failed me.

And then there is my favorite category in the chaotic whirlwind of street madness: cabbies. Most of the cabbies in Beijing are proud of their license and position in society. They keep their cars clean and buy special pads to make the ride more comfortable (and washable). The Beijing Taxi Company tries especially hard to cater to foreigners buy playing an introductory tape once you enter the vehicle. (Read with a chinese accent:)

Hello.  Welcome to Beijing.  
We are glad you chose our cab services.  
Please let the driver know if you have any
  comments about the drive.  
Thank you and have a nice ride.

I think my favorite thing about the cabbies is that they have no idea where anything is. Of course this isn’t their fault. One of the first things you notice about Beijing is all the construction. Old courtyards, which take up a lot of space because they are ground level houses, are being demolished left and right. A common scene: bricks, dust, brooms, bricks, dust, brooms. And what goes up in their place? High rise apartments, stores, office buildings and the like. And the 2008 Olympics aren’t helping matters. The government is going to pain staking efforts to clean up and clean out the city.

So this leaves the cabbies in quite a predicament. I’ve gotten into cabs, given the cab driver a business card with a full street address, chinese characters and all, and the cab looks at me like, “So, you wanna go to mars?”

Because this is probably an unpleasant experience for the cabbie, I’ve seen some cabs take one look at my foreign fingers in the air and drive on by. I don’t blame them, but their charm adds a whole lot to Beijing.