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  1. #1 Commuting daily in Shanghai... 
    C-Moto Guru Fred's Avatar
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    ...is no fun...

    The current weather doesn't help for sure, but the biggest problem is all the morons on the road...

    It gets to the point (at least for me) where I think I will use the bike only for WE trips, not anymore for commuting.
    Every day sees its share of dangerous moves, blind drivers, total non-respect of the driving rules (what rules ??), and mostly incredibly stupid and suicidal ebikes riders... but this is something that I can work with, because after some time you know exactly what to expect and how to be very careful to avoid most of the close calls.

    What gets me is the fact that drivers in China still consider motorbikes as a transportation method for poor mingong, who should yield to their bigger car and never, never be in their way...
    Firstly, this is so wrong, but hey, TIC...
    Motorcycles as a leisure, or culture, is only beginning in China big cities, and very few cars drivers understand motorcycles as a proper vehicle with its own rights to occupy a lane.

    In China, the ever-changing country where flexibility is a must, there is one thing that never ever changes : when a bike is in front of a car, the car driver will honk, flash his lights and do anything, absolutely anything to go by, even with extremely dangerous and close maneuvers...
    And this, my friends, get old...
    Everyday I meet at least one moron like this. Yesterday morning it was a taxi, honking his way and zooming past me, missing me by 20cm maximum. Yesterday evening, it was a private car, honking, flashing his lights, then passing me and positioning himself just in front of me before braking heavily even though there was nothing in front of him, then speeding away... Just to "give me a lesson" I suppose ?...

    Problem is, depending on my mood at the time, and even though I know that a bike will never win, my reaction can be ...strong. I know, not good, but I'm human, and honest.

    Sometimes, when they realize that my bike is not a small 125, and they see my face through the clear shield, they back off immediately, some have no clue...


    I guess we all feel the same sometimes, maybe in 1 month I will say something very different again, but right now, it's getting pretty old...

    Where are the other daily commuters in Chinese big cities ? How do you cope with this (if possible at all...) ?
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  2. #2 Re: Commuting daily in Shanghai... 
    Senior C-Moto Guru euphonius's Avatar
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    Dear Fred,

    How far do you commute in Shanghai? If it's 10km or less, you can cover the same ground by bicycle, and probably in the same time or less. Be sure you have a good quality bicycle with gearing and good brakes as well as fenders. I go from Yufosi (Jade Buddha Temple) near Shanghai Station to Zhongshan West Road at Wuzhong Lu in as little as 20 minutes, but I ride hard. Hongqiao to Puxi midtown should be 30 minutes or less.

    Now if you are riding into Puxi from way out in the godforsaken 'burbs, well, what the hell are you doing living out there in the first place?

    Chinese cities are NOT good places for motorcycle commuting, and most cities suck for bicycling too, since any bicycle lanes have long since become fair game for cars. But Shanghai is special and different. There is very little legal street parking, and -- with the exception of schools where proud parents insist on picking up junior by car, and typically park in the bicycle lane until the school disgorges their progeny -- the ticket-and-tow brigades are very good at enforcing the no-street-parking rules. This makes bicycling a real pleasure. Yes, there are plenty of morons and jerks who will cut you off, but if you are paying attention and planning well, you can leave most cars in your dust. The bike lanes are faster.

    cheers
    jkp
    Shanghai
    2010 JH600 "Merkin Muffley" (in Shanghai)
    2000 KLR650 "Feezer Ablanalp" (in California)
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  3. #3 Re: Commuting daily in Shanghai... 
    Duct tape savant felix's Avatar
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    I think most of the china-based forum members feel your pain fred. It's perfectly human to feel this way. What it really boils down to is that nobody likes to be treated as an inferior being; and as a biker on chinese roads it's exactly what happens. In every car driver's mind you're an inferior road user and they will treat you as such.

    There are ways to calm yourself down.
    - You can become apathetic like every other bike on the road and just switch your brain off and take the abuse.
    - You try to get out of the 'i'm in a rush' state of mind and proceed more slowly through the mess.
    - What works for me is to treat every other vehicle on the road as a mindless, random obstacle and not one controlled by a human.

    Here's the reasoning: if the car that just cut me off without warning is controlled by a human, i get angry because i expect humans to act reasonably and respect each other. BUT, if some giant rock rolls across the road right in front of me, i'm not going to get road-rage, i'm just happy i didn't hit it. Imagine that all road users are just mindless obstacles and the anger goes away.

    Do not read this as anything racist. I don't think that chinese people are mindless objects, it's just a mental exercise to stay sane on the road!
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  4. #4 Re: Commuting daily in Shanghai... 
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fred View Post
    Yesterday evening, it was a private car, honking, flashing his lights, then passing me and positioning himself just in front of me before braking heavily even though there was nothing in front of him, then speeding away... Just to "give me a lesson" I suppose ?...
    You should be thankful, not every Chinese has the time to show you how to behave like a complete jackass.
    It is difficult to get used to having people cut you off all the time. I just try to remember not to do anything that would require anyone else to hit the brakes. After a couple of years, I have gotten to the point where casual acts of aggression and outright examples of lunacy don't phase me,

    much.

    Are you riding much with other LBIC? I always find that I learn best how to cope with traffic by watching other, more experienced drivers.

    Interestingly, I am currently vacationing in Canada, where I am going through a reverse culture shock as I try to get used to people being polite to me! They still drive like idiots though.
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  5. #5 Re: Commuting daily in Shanghai... 
    C-Moto Guru Fred's Avatar
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    Took the shuttle bus today, anyway the weather is crap so...

    Jeff, my daily commute is a 20km trip (factory in Minhang), so bicycle is out of the question for me. I usually carry some docs and a laptop, so...

    Felix, that might actually help, thanks a lot ! I can totally relate to the "I expect humans to act reasonably and respect each other". Thinking about it, that's my main problem in China.
    Considering cars as mindless objects, not controlled by humans, can help, even though it feels really artificial to have the need to think that way not to get angry...

    Most of the time, I focus on the fact that it is the best training anyone can have, that 1,000km in Shanghai = 5,000km in a western country, and that all this hardcore training will serve me well for my future riding career in Canada and Europe !


    Nuhaus, I know what you mean with the culture shock : I just spent 3 weeks in France for the holiday, where people drive aggressively (accelerating and braking hard between traffic lights), but while respecting the rules. For the first 2 weeks I was completely scared stiff when, as a passenger in a car, we arrived at a crossroad without lights, and that the driver of my car never slow down even though other cars were coming from other direction quite fast, because we had the right of way !
    Simply because everyone can expect/assume that the fellow driver will respect its share of the driving rules, they don't even think about slowing down when they have the right of way !

    You do that in China, and you're dead in 2 hours maximum...
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  6. #6 Re: Commuting daily in Shanghai... 
    Duc's and Cat's 998S's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fred View Post
    Simply because everyone can expect/assume that the fellow driver will respect its share of the driving rules, they don't even think about slowing down when they have the right of way! You do that in China, and you're dead in 2 hours maximum...
    That I do not agree, as most deadly motorcycle accidents in EU (and I guess in the USA as well) happen due to car drivers NOT obeying the rules.
    Just mean the likes of the guy who all of a sudden turns left without indicating, or the driver with his mind on the phone.
    Riding on a motorbike assuming you get the right of way is as dangerous as riding here.

    That having said, what really helps me is riding so that I simply avoid the vulnerable spots.
    I will try never to be in the middle of a row of cars, would rather hang at the tail of the next row (so I rather just accelerate to the next row).
    I will never be the first to line up in front of a red light, the risk of not being seen is too big.
    I will never pass on the right side of cars, or to pass cars which show a driver which shows erratic behavior (yes, I know, 99%..) as long as I am not absolutely sure I have an escape route.


    The above makes riding not more fun, but it takes out some of the irritation, which altogether improves my mood, and not give up completely.
    Still I am with you on this matter, and am happy to join the crowd on the no. 2 Metro every Friday to my weekly Pudong assignment.
    No way I will do that by car or (motor)bike, just for those reasons.
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  7. #7 Re: Commuting daily in Shanghai... 
    C-Moto Guru Fred's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 998S View Post


    That I do not agree, as most deadly motorcycle accidents in EU (and I guess in the USA as well) happen due to car drivers NOT obeying the rules.
    Of course, I'm with you on that one, I didn't write that I agree (because you should never assume everyone will respect the rule, or one day you'll meet someone who didn't and it'll be painful), what I wrote is that it's what they do, and when coming from China, I was seriously scared stiff because you could never risk that here if you want to survive...

    Anyway we understand each other. We ride bikes because it's fun, because we like the freedom and the speed too, but in those conditions, with such dangerous and moronic behaviors, sometimes it's not worth it, not fun anymore.
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  8. #8 Re: Commuting daily in Shanghai... 
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    G'Day,

    Had my first car and H-D in Shanghai June 1989 and every years get worse with morons in cars, on motorbikes / e-bikes / bicycles, etc. they will never learn, not in another 5000 years!!!!
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  9. #9 Re: Commuting daily in Shanghai... 
    C-Moto Senior Wrangler's Avatar
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    Heh, heh. I just read this and just had to laugh. Last night I was riding in a rain, very slowly. There was a car in front of me and after he passes the intersection and I'm about to pass, an e-bike comes into my lane from the opposite direction and is heading straight towards me! Since I'm right over the white lines I don't want to suddenly brake or swerve. I think this guy is going to swerve but he keeps coming to me. As we get closer I can't tell if he's going to go right or left and I can tell he is thinking the same thing. So I go right and he goes left and *BOOM* he smashes his ebike into my bike. Luckily he just hit my engine guards and I heard his plastic cracking.

    All I could say to him was "what are you thinking?". He was pretty embarassed and didn't say anything and just rode off. I saw that his leg had crashed into my guard and he was wincing in pain so I just let it rest. All I could think was how stupid this kid was, on an ebike, no lights, riding in the rain in the wrong direction, and no helmet.
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  10. #10 Re: Commuting daily in Shanghai... 
    C-Moto Guru Fred's Avatar
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    Yeah, ebikes in China are a real pain in the ass and a real road hazard... It's just incredible to see them do stupidly suicidal moves day after day after day... Hospitals in China (or morgues) must be full of ebikers...

    In Shanghai, if you're stopped at a red light, turning to green so you're starting to roll, 9 times out of 10 an ebike will cut the intersection in front of you. 9 times out of 10, guaranteed....

    Yesterday evening, I arrived at my apartment after coming back from work. I didn't even have time to put my helmet on the table that I heard a tyre screeching noise outside, a woman shouting in fear and the sound of a crash. Went to the window and a taxi had smashed into an ebike who ignored the red light... The taxi was 10 meters beyond the impact point, it was a nasty one...
    At this intersection just in front of my residence, it happens daily, seriously. Everyone and their mother on ebikes is ignoring the red light as it is a 2 lanes road crossing a "small" 1 lane road.
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