Last updated Sunday October 07, 2007
Here is one of the nicer streets in the embassy district. Notice the car traffic separated from the bicycle lane and a wide sidewalk over to the left. When traffic to heavy our driver would often go through the bicycle lane honking at the bicycle riders to get out of the way. If the traffic was really backed up he would drive down the sidewalk and over the curb at an intersection where the traffic was moving.
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Beijing is full of these red taxis. The buses and the red taxis make up the majority of the transportation. There are advertising signs plastered on most of the buildings and almost all empty spots. This sign is for LG, a Korean company that sells CDMA phones in China using chips my company makes.
The traffic cops would stand off to one side of the intersection and yell at the traffic through a megaphone. Jaywalkers and illegal drivers would ignore them with impunity. Notice that both cops are yelling at the same time. Couldn't understand one, let alone two screaming into those things.
This is Wanfujing, the main ritzy shopping street in Beijing. For about three blocks they make it a pedestrian mall so you don't have to dodge the taxis to get across the street. Even though the sidewalks are very wide there isn't enough room for all the shoppers so the empty street is welcome.
BTW, the sky is totally faked. It's always a white overcast that makes photos look horrible. I borrowed the color from the lady's sweater on the sidewalk on the left.
Where we use words like discount and warehouse store, the Chinese get right to the true nature of the place.