Another Major Traffic Jam in Beijing
News is out of Beijing that the 110 Highway has backed up again. This time it's been a massive traffic jam for NINE DAYS!!! And is expected to last A MONTH!!!
See:
Traffic Jam along National Expressway 110 hits 9th day; Expected to Last a Month!Don't want to be in that traffic jam!
Labels: Beijing, China News, traffic
Health News and a Major Traffic Jam
One might ask why I keep a blog know as abrysoninchina, when I'm back in the USA now. Well, mainly I've kept it becasue I thought I would get back there sooner. But I've also used it to provide news about China, primarily since most of my friends still in the country, don't always get much in-country news in English. And last, I've used it to provide news to my friends about my status, especially my health situation.\
On that last note, I continue to progress well. I've been graduated to only one clinic visit per week. I should be off the wound vac in another week or two, and will then be given my freedom to drive and work. I can't wait.
As for news from China, there was a lot of coverage about a traffic jam near Beijing this week. While I was in China, I began to see the increasing volume of cars and trucks. China has done well with a growing infrastructure to handle, but when there are so many new vehicles on the road daily, the new roads are still not enough.
The incrasing volume became evident with some of the news yesterday when it was announced that there was a
major traffic jam near Beijing. It has already lasted 10 days, and stretched 60 miles. It is expected to last another month, since it has been caused by road construction, which is not expected to be finished for a month. This is getting a lot of coverage, and surprisingly, I have even heard about it from two friends in China. As one put it: "And you thought the traffic was bad in LA!" News about things which marks China bigger than the rest of the world, gets coverage.
Labels: Beijing, kidney transplant, traffic
Post Olympics Beijing
It's been a tough few weeks of news about Beijing:
- First, fireworks for the Chinese New Year, burned the towering new Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Fortunately, it hadn't opened yet. One firefighter was killed. But what a fire! Incredible video and story here.
But I'm not finding any news about the pollution since the Olympics.
Labels: Beijing
It’s All in The Numbers
Numbers can be mind numbing sometimes; especially when you hear numbers around here with over 1 billion people.
Northern China has been impacted by a lot of snow recently. Hubei Province got up to 30 cm of snow, or almost a foot. Over 9200 homes have been toppled by the snow! Can you imagine the outcry if that happened in the US?
In the meantime, the economy has been racing along. It expanded 11.4% in 2007, even though that rate is slower than earlier in the year. Of course, the recent stock woes hit here too. The markets have been down decidedly before finally rebounding Tuesday. In Hong Kong it was even up almost 11% yesterday.
In another surprising number, a farmer was recently compensated by the government after having been attacked by a bear. There were 997 such attacks last year in China! Where? I can’t imagine a bear surviving with this many people. But I don’t want to visit the attack area either!
Back here in Dongguan, the city just got recognized for having 213 days of haze last year. Of course, you know why don’t you? Smog! Yes, over half the year you can’t see the mountains due to intense smog.
In Beijing they hope to have 256 “blue sky” days in 2008 by actions they are taking. That will be 10% more than in 2007. Of course, they are counting on those 25 days as being during August when the Olympics will be in Beijing! Let’s hope the actions spread down here to increase our “blue sky” days too! If we have a 10% increase, that will be 168. That is not even close to the number of “blue sky” days they hope to have in Bejing! Shows how bad it is around here, doesn’t it!
Click on any of the underlined blue comments to see more detailed reports.
Labels: bear attacks, Beijing, Dongguan, Life in China, pollution, smog, snow
Queuing Lessons Needed
Did you see that on Sunday, Beijing observed its’ first “Queuing Day?” It will be observed every 11th of the month, to emphasize improving lining up to wait for buses, tickets, or whatever the queue. They are trying to improve the etiquette around Beijing, prior to the world descending on the city for the 2008 Olympics.
The Chinese need some help on this little simple act of politeness. Go almost anyplace, and it seems more like a mob scene than anything organized. I have basically learned you don’t get anything unless you act like everyone else and just push your way to the front or speak up to get an attendant’s attention. Take McDonald’s: I’ve many a time been to the front of a line, to just have person after person push in front of me. And no one seems to mind. The attendants just help the person that speaks loudest and is pushiest.
Bill Bryson wrote that the French were really great at lining up in a straight line for buses, but that whenever a bus arrived, they just broke rank and all hell broke loose for whoever could fight to the front. In China they don’t even start with a line. It’s just a free-for-all for most anything.
When McDonald’s opened a drive-through service window, it was a joke. They drive like they walk here and everyone just breaks in lines and around you any chance they can. McDonald’s had to block anyone from being able to break in front after the ordering station, so cars remained in proper sequence.
Beijing may be getting better now with the “Queuing Day” efforts. I just hope they bring the queuing lessons on down here to Dongguan someday soon!
Labels: Beijing, China, etiquette, Olympics, queuing
