Driving

So every day I am amazed that we (1) haven't been in an accident and (2) that we haven't seen more accidents. We have our own driver, we have dubbed him "Mr. Mute" because we have yet to hear him say a word. I am a big fan of Mr. Mute, as he has saved us from many near death experiences on the roads in China.


The driving situation is much like that of South America and Italy, the lines on the road are merely suggestions or guidelines as to how many cars can fit on road and which direction you should travel. This photo below is of a "3" lane road, I think there are 7 vehicles using it all at one time. It doesn't stop there, right before the light changes if there is nobody in the on comming traffic lane, they will use that too. Most intersections don't have stop lights and it is a complete barging sessions, every car/bike/pedestrian for himself...


Since there are over a billion people in China, they don't seem to worry about losing a few lives to things such as accidents. I haven't mentioned this in previous blogs because I wasn't sure how I felt about it, but I am embracing their "no worries" attitude towards child safety. Look at these photos and you tell me what is wrong with these pictures...






I can't believe they just have their kids in their laps cruising around on the sketchiest roads. Aren't all child seats/helmets/protective gear made in China? All I can say is wow. Why don't they just steal a few car seats and use them, or if you are cruising on a bike leave the kid home (even alone would be more safe)...

On the same sort of line, I wrote about how many people they can fit on a motorcycle. It is very common to see 3 people on a bike or scooter, but you even see 4 people. It is straight out of the circus. It isn't like I have seen 4 people on one or two bikes, I have seen it 5+ times each day. Today I finally got a photo of the "4 banger", enjoy...


We went to visit a clothing manufacturer today. He showed us all the types of things he can make for us, then he modeled a few things for us too. I can't wait to get some milo gear that this guy can create, I think I am going to give him complete control of our soft goods.....


Can you say "fashion victim"? Just kidding that this was the guy we went to see, he just had an amazing outfit that I had to share it with everyone.

Tomorrow we are off to Hong Kong. It is a 2 1/2 hour bus ride and will probably be quite an event. We shall see how it goes...