Quick Observations

traffic- ok, there is a ton of it. Of course being from GA we have seen our share w/ the Atlanta traffic. The biggest difference here is that in addition to all the cars there are also the bikes, the trikes, the tons of people walking everywhere. The bikes aren't on the sides of the roads, they are mixed in with the cars, looking like they are about to get clipped at any second. But the people riding them show no concern at all. But the amazing thing is that it seems almost like poetry in motion. I know, an odd thought about traffic. But the vehicles and people seem to blend in very fluidly. It's not like in the US where people are trying to not look at you so they don't have to let you in. Here they all accept that they must flow lane into lane and it just happens. The other interesting thing we learned is that Monday through Friday. Everyone, even though they have a 5 day work week is on a 4 day driving schedule. They have one day that they must leave their vehicle at home. This is done in order to minimize the amount of vehicles on the road. We also were told that during the recent olympics, the government put everyone on an every other day driving schedule. This cut traffic in half, but I can't imagine their subways during those days as they are already incredibly crowded.

Pride. Today was Labor day in China. There were crowds everywhere. Our guide said many people travel far on days such as this to visit the historic sites. We saw two women rush a guarded area that held a flagpole flying China's flag. They were dragged off by the police. They risked arrest in order to touch the flagpole of their country. Also I have heard several people here talking about themselves, no not them themselves personally but they "chinese people" as a group. I heard statements starting... "we Chinese ...." I found that incredibly interesting as that is not something I can say I have heard in the US. We don't group ourselves saying we all do anything a certain way.