Adventures in Driving

So, this was a big week for me.  I (finally) worked up the courage to drive solo from the Embassy back to my home in the suburbs 30-45 minutes outside the city.  And it was a success.  Which means I didn't hit any other cars or people or tuk-tuks or bicycles or scooters or motorbikes or any other permutations of the not-sure-what-they-are-but-they-definitely-aren't-cars that populate the roadways here.  I've "only" had my car since June (ha) so clearly some solo city driving was well overdue.  Chris has been doing this somewhat regularly since June so it was definitely time for me to do so. The good thing is that having done it once, I do think I can do it again.  And honestly, it wasn't as bad as I feared. I've been a passenger in a lot of cars at this point and driven enough solo around my neighborhood that I'm not completely shocked by the behavior on the roadways here. There don't appear to be many rules governing traffic flow here. There are, however, zillions of cameras watching you so you don't want to break any of the non-rules on camera because you WILL get a ticket.  Got that?  The main thing to remember is that your goal is to go from Point A to Point B without hitting anything or anyone. If you get that part down, everything else seems to fall into place.

My readers back home in America might wonder why on earth driving solo is a big deal. I mean, I've been driving (gulp) about 25 years.  That said, I've spent much of it driving my large, safe car around a fairly orderly city that I know really really well. I do have my large safe American Toyota minivan here, but the rest of the game has changed. China shockingly isn't the worst place I've ever driven -- Naples, Italy still holds that honor -- but it is definitely a tricky place to drive. Plus, I spoke enough Italian to manage the situation if I had ended up in any type of car accident in Naples. I was also a LOT younger and didn't have 3 kids in tow. Here in Beijing, while my Mandarin has improved a great deal, it remains very toddler-like. Knowing my numbers, colors and phrases like "where is the bathroom" or "I don't eat meat" is all well and good, but of little use if I end up involved in a traffic accident. And we have been warned that hitting another car or a pedestrian or a biker can result in a confrontation with an angry mob that might potentially encircle and trap you.  Gulp.  That scenario remains my biggest fear whenever I hop in the car and head into the city proper.

If you are curious, here is a clip of what Beijing traffic looks like.  Seriously.  Pretty much every intersection has folks desperately trying to cross the street in their conveyance of choice.  This clip is filmed from a pedestrian standpoint, which is absolutely terrifying.  It is also pretty terrifying to be in a vehicle since pedestrians and scooters and motorbikes come within inches of your car. Oh, and there is the fact that if you don't pretend like you are going to hit these people by inching into the intersection, you will never ever ever move.  You'll just sit there until you grow dusty and die.  Or something like that.  

Perilous driving aside, our car has been here for 3 months and I will tell you that driving is worth the trouble.  Since I was very young, my car has embodied freedom for me.  Freedom to leave a situation I don't like, freedom to get things I want, to go where I need to.  Freedom to get outside of the crowded city.  This remains the same here in Beijing.  I really feel a lot more settled with my car along since I can easily pick up the kids from school no matter what the weather is like or visit restaurants I like or bring home my own groceries. The best part -- although we still use shuttles and public transportation some -- I haven't been in a Beijing taxi cab in several months.  That, my friends, is something worth celebrating!