The Dharma Force

China stuff part 1

Boy, that Jason Williams is really something huh?

Ok, OK, I will get to my China trip.
(Eyeing a nice-looking girl slowly putting the pistol back into her pocket.)

Shanghai was hot and humid.
Air conditioner was running non-stop most of the day. I stayed with my In-laws. It was a nice gated community complete with security guards patrolling on bicycles.
Yes, they looked very ridiculous.
They were talking about guards on horses at one point, but I doubt anyone knows how to clean after a horse after it did its business. My daughter would have loved it, though. Oh well ...

Every driver in Shanghai was a better driver than me. I will have to admit that. 6 cars can share 4 lanes, side by side. You will have to know that it was a 2 lane street, the other 2 lanes were supposed to be used by the opposite direction.

Driving on the street, you will need nerve of steel, sharp reflexes, loud horn, ... and a blindfold.

It was a complete jungle. The huge buses are the elephants who yields to no one, and I have seen a bus dashes across 2 lanes to beat a yellow left turn light while 3 or 4 sedans scrambled out of the way.
The big trucks were the lions. They have no idea that there was white lines on the ground. I have seen a truck missed an off ramp on the highway. It made a complete stop, backed up, made a 125 degree turn and got off the highway from an On ramp. The driver even had the audacity to horn at the cars who were trying to get on the On ramp.

The cabs were definitely the jackals. They could zip through traffic like snakes. If you got in a cab, and the guy was behind a bus for more than 5 seconds, you got a newbie on your hand. They were the guys made the record of 6 cars on 4 lanes.

When any driver changes lane, turn signal was seldomly used. Actually, if you use your turn signal, you would never be able to change lane. As soon as you signals, all the cars on that lane will pacted up. Nobody will give you an inch. The reason is quite simple, as soon as you let your guard down, at least three cars will swoop in and you are 10 minutes late. The correct way to do it was to turn your car towards the car in the adjacent lane as if you were going to give it a kiss. Then you step on the gas as if you were going crazy. If the other driver was so shocked that he stepped on the brake, then you cut in. Now if the other driver had better nerve than you, or he was blindfolded just like I said earlier, then you will need to step on the brakes, and as soon as that car passes you, you cut in immediately before the next car had time to react.

Surprisingly, I had not seen one instance of road rage. That was probably because firearms were illegal there.

Food there was fantastic! Even a fast food chain restaurant I went to was better than the best Chinese restaurant in town here.

Although, surprisingly, McDonald and KFC in Shanghai were usually packed with people.

Go figure!

Walking down the main streets of Shanghai, I was like in L.A. or San Francisco. Tourists from all over the world were there. Big screen TV in the square were broadcasting ESPN, and Ads for Gucci or Rolex were all over the place.

Some of the shops were like Macy's here, department stores that were 8 to 10 story high, selling everything from electronics to clothing to furniture.

Then you have the malls. Huge malls covering several city blocks, and they were still 7 to 8 stories high. You could definitely spend days there. Great restaurants filled the place, and kids' stores complete with playgrounds.

It was a pretty exciting place to visit, as long as you have money.