Chengdu © Paddy Booz
Two days into the new year and wham! car crash on our street right in front of Potato Lady's street stall. Not an uncommon occurrence here in Chengdu or China for that matter. Every taxi ride is an event and one that you are happy to get through unscathed. We ride taxis every day and so far have luckily escaped injury. Each taxi journey involves an important decision: Front seat? Means you get a safety belt but also a lot of damage in a head-on collision. Back seat? You can scrunch behind the front seat but no safety belts and a journey through the windshield if you're going fast enough. You also don't have to deal with a driver like the one I had the other day who was concentrating more on putting his hand as close to my thigh as possible than on the road. After that it's back seat for me. Most drivers aren't like this though, here in Chengdu they are usually quite pleasant, some even wishing Yi lu ping an! It's actually not the taxi drivers that I'm most worried about but rather the nouveau riche new car owner that hasn't a clue what he/she is doing and thinks that because they can pay their way out of a fine can drive anywhere they like. They make the most incredible mistakes and blatantly drive just about anywhere or any way they like: against the traffic, on the wrong side of the road, on the side walk...those are the scary ones....
The car crash above? Second hand news, I was in the shower when it happened. Potato Lady? More about her later...
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