On Transportation

In China there are many new and big foreign luxury cars like Lexis, BMW and Porsche Cayanes everywhere you look. The rest of the vehicle are well used trucks, buses of all sizes, a multitude of motorcycles, and bicycles, most of which are electric and look like they should have stopped working ten years ago. Batteries are held on with wire; baskets and racks are welded to gas tanks, handle bars or whatever; bamboo armatures are taped on holding umbrellas and tarps; wheels that are far from round and often at funny angles, wobble as they ride down the middle of the road.  And, not a single light on any of them.

Xiamen traffic jam

At night they are more like invisible ghosts but still in the middle of the road and often going the wrong direction.  You couldn't pay me to get on one of these things, let alone ride it in the middle of the road, often on the wrong side of the road, and without lights.

Going the wrong way

Driving here is unbelievable.  How there aren't more accidents I truly don't understand.   So far as I can tell, there appear to be no rules or traffic laws but neither are there police or traffic accidents.  It's as if the vehicles on the road are ants -- part of a hive mind.

Yes, there are accidents

There seems to be a hidden code where cars turn in front of others.  Right of way is not a given and all vehicles have equal right of way.

You want to do a U turn.  Just do it!

Pedestrians cross as needed.  Bicycles and even cars are regularly on the wrong side of the road as if the lines and lights were suggestions.  Need supersedes 'intended use'.  So, what is easiest or fastest or makes the most sense becomes the "right" thing to do.  This allows open areas, free lanes, and any unused spaces to be used as needed.  If there are no cars  moving, people will simply park their car, even on intersection corners or the wrong side of street.  Likewise they drive on sidewalks, plazas and alleys one wouldn't initially think were suitable for any vehicle.

Street scene in Xiamen

The result -- less wasted space, more efficient travel, perhaps planning is even simplified requiring less thought for intended use but instead creating the "zones" that allow people to use them how they want.  Kind of like my philosophy for architecture.  That is, create wonderful spaces that lend themselves to multiple use and the varied needs of users.

Gas here is 2.70 yuan/liter or 4.50 per gallon.  But, with all the alternative transportation options, including a fabulous rapid bus transit system where buses run on dedicated streets, through tunnels, and on elevated roadways, one can easily avoid driving if desired.  

In a city of 3.61 million people, all forms of transportation mix it up in a fascinating move-the-people-dance.