Almost time to leave - part 2

A day later than promised, but better than usual given my blogging habits. So here we go, the things I won't miss about China:

• The environment. Some days it can be pretty nice (today was sunny and clear), but those are rare.  Generally it's grey and murky and dusty (due to construction below).  When I first moved over here I had a lot trouble running as my lungs just couldn't handle the poor air quality. I've gotten much more used to it...but I don't think that's a good thing.  There have been plenty of days throughout the year where the visibility was no more than a kilometre in any direction due to the haze and smog.  Not good. 

• The construction. I understand that the 2010 World Expo is happening here next year so the infrastructure needs to be improved, but it's absolutely ridiculous. Roads being ripped up all over the place. New freeways and ring roads being installed.  Footpaths being paved, ripped up, paved again, modified for trees, tree implanted, trees being removed, repaved again - enough already!

• The spitting. Obviously it's part of life here, and is a big cultural difference as it seems to be widely accepted (although not necessarily encouraged).  As my friend Shotty said when he left China after visiting me: "I'll be happy if I never have to hear someone hock a loogie again"

• The traffic. Running red lights, going up the street the wrong way, near-misses with buses - these are all things that I have experienced during my time in China.  The roads are horrendous in some places, and with the complete lack of a police presence drivers often do whatever they want.  Also not a fan of being at a pedestrian crossing with a green signal and having to wait for cars to go past.  Grrr.
  

• The weather extremes.  Up to 40 in the summer and -5 in the winter in Shanghai (much worse in Beijing though, so I'm happy I'm not there).  The humidity in summer is a killer, as you just get soaked in sweat whenever you're outside.  In the winter there's always a cold breeze blowing, which probably takes a few degrees off due to the wind chill factor.

The good definitely outweighs the bad.  I've had a really good time living in Shanghai - I can see why some expats come over intending on staying for a short time and end up living here for years.

Beep-beep, beep-beep, yeah

Walked home in the rain today and foolishly stopped in at the supermarket to get some bits and pieces. Note to self: carrying a laptop, shopping bags, some loose items that wouldn't fit in the shopping bags, and an umbrella is not condusive to a pleasant stroll.

Anyway, on the way back to the apartment I went past one of the biggest traffic jams I've ever seen - there must have been 50 buses in the space of a few hundred metres...and none of them was moving. At all. And this included the main part of the intersection itself - the whole place was absolutely chock-a-block (is that a really Aussie saying or does it just sound like it?) full of vehicles.

Attempting to get across a pedestrian crossing in such a situation is a bit of a challenge - it seems like the drivers take it personally if anything on the road is moving and they are not...and this includes people. There were a couple of instances where I tried to walk behind one bus only for the driver of the one behind it to close the (already miniscule) gap between them so that not even Lindsay Lohan would have gotten through.

This leads me to recall some of my other traffic observations from my time in Shanghai so far:

• Red lights are not a directive telling you to stop, they are simply an advisory that if you continue, you may run into cars traveling the other way.

• The horn is not an optional component, it is an essential part of the driving experience. There is a reason that the horn is accessed via a trigger-like interface on most cars here - if you have not beeped your horn in the last 20 seconds, you are doing something wrong. In fact, I believe people here have had their licences confiscated for 'insufficient horn usage'.

• On a dual-lane road, there are actually three lanes available to you - the two traveling in your direction, and one of the ones going in the other direction. Especially if the people in front of you are only doing a paltry 10km per hour over the posted speed limit.

• Pedestrians do not have the right of way, even at pedestrian crossings. If you are audacious enough to want to cross the road, you can damn well wait until the cars have gotten where they want to go first.

I'm sure there are others that I can't think of at the moment - I'll post them as they come to mind.