Abstract from Travel and Life in China
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. |