Quote Originally Posted by Fred View Post
Thanks Pete !

Most Chinese unfortunately do not say anything to those drivers and just keep being bullied, while bending their spine.
I believe this is all related to the all-important 'Chinese face' --> ''. Wouldn't you agree? Of course, but probably not with implementing '' into your life! Life is more important and we're gonna shout about it! ...or sing about it ...which I'm sure will make us all more popular than a bunch of angry, shouting foreigners but we don't get the chance to prepare a song while we're being pushed off the road by the asssh*les (or plain, ignorant idiots) out there who shouldn't be driving in the first place.

Before I agree with you, Fred, I just want to get a few things off my chest (that I experienced this morning on my 180km ride back from Mengyin). This isn't the first time I've seen this kind of thing but, for now, these ones are fresh memories:

- An E-bike riding, middle aged woman (baby girl riding pillion) plowing straight across a duel-carriageway and into my 80kph path without looking:
I was going slowly enough to stop (I learn from my mistakes), but it just sickens me how so many middle aged men and women can be so careless with their lives. How did they make it that far in the first place? They'd do well to set good examples to the younglings of today's China but instead they just drag them into the path of random speeding vehicles.

- A selection of cars that want to play chicken with me... which, if you count injuries, would me I'd loose every time:
Some will gradually overtake, only consuming about 50% of my side of the road and I still have the hard-shoulder; these one's don't bother me any more. The ones that try overtaking around blind corners are the ones that piss me off the most.

- Another E-bike riding, suicidal middle aged woman looking to take child with her to the Chinese afterlife:
This time she saw me as she was half-way across the duel-carriageway and stopped, leaving me just enough room to get by in-front of her. I, however. stopped right in-front of her and waved her on in a polite but very eccentric way (I was very angry and my sense of humour pops-in to prevent me from shouting). She smiled as hard as she could (barely masking her fear) and went on her way.

Now that's out of the way: Fred, thank you for your kind words, advice and wisdom. I don't think I've seen as much as you but rest assured that I've seen enough. I won't be riding crazily down the roads to Shanghai. Most importantly, I always take it easy down roads that I don't know.