Bike and Scooter Etiquette

Part of the reason for this blog is to remind myself of all the unusual things about China. Some day when I'm far away, I might forget them or they may change. The other purpose is of course self-absorbed navel gazing.

In honor of the first effort, I have to say something about the bicycles and motor scooters. I think the use of bikes and scooters by the Chinese says a great deal about their culture. Some of it is quite endearing. When I'm out on the street and there is a mass of bikes/scooters intertwined with all the traffic, I definitely feel far away from home.

But when I'm on the sidewalk and I have to maneuver around them, it doesn't conjure up positive images. All those people on bikes are going somewhere. When they get to their destination, they have to do something with the bikes and scooters.

There are designated sections of the sidewalk for parking the things. And there is a guy or a gal sitting somewhere close by charging for the space. Inevitably, the parking spaces take up the majority of the sidewalk and there is just enough room for 1.5 persons to go by completely ignoring the fact that there are 24 million people in the city. This creates constant bottlenecks.

There is always some jerk riding his scooter or bike on the sidewalk in this mass chaos. This seems to irritate all westerners equally. And we have all found ways to handle the situation independently - each of us in our own passive aggressive way.

Nine times out of ten, we use some extension of ourselves (a backpack or purse) to swing around innocently and knock the heck out of the violator. You perfect this almost immediately upon moving to China. A well timed twist of the back can send a backpack directly into the path of the biker throwing him or her off balance and leaving you with a sense of satisfaction that is often difficult to achieve in China.

The other westerners tend to be more straight forward in their approach and use their arms or elbows. Both of these approaches work equally well in crowded elevators or for those Chinese inclined to cut in line (which is most of them).

But this tendency to ride your bike or scooter down a crowded sidewalk when the street is two feet away or to shove yourself onto an already crowded elevator or to walk to the front of the long line of people reflects their group attitude of "me first, and to hell with the rest of you".

We have our share of rude folks in the States and periodically people who are generally considerate will fall prey to a rude action out of necessity. If you are downtown during rush hour and you have to pick someone up, you do your best not to stop in the middle of the lane and block traffic for any period of time. If your passenger isn't ready, you're likely to drive around the block rather than risking the ire of all those motorists behind you anxious to get home.

Not so in China. People will park their cars in the center of the street so that no object, including a bicycle, could possibly squeeze around them and they'll run in a store and buy some tea.

In fairness, none of these actions are considered rude in China. People will get irritated and there is a lot of honking (less with the advent of the no honking rule), but they are generally accepted and tolerated. With so many people, you'd think a measure of consideration would be in order. Not a chance.