Commuters in Beijing are probably some of the luckiest people I have ever come into contact with. It’s like they live in their own dream world while moving through the city, armed with cell phones, iPhones, headphones and iPods galore.

Don’t be surprised when you see commuters (whether by foot, by bike or by car) heedlessly crossing streets, merging into traffic or turning on to new roads without once looking at who’s around them. You’d be lucky to see them looking in the general direction in which they’re traveling. And yet, each person makes it to their destinations virtually unscathed. And don’t forget the aforementioned: they commute in this fashion with some form of electronic gadget that further distracts them from other commuters that they have nearly injured or have nearly injured them in some way.

I am amazed that the day to day carnage on the streets of Beijing is not up to par with the reckless driving and - if it’s possible - reckless walking and biking I see happening every day. Don’t get me wrong - I’m not some violence-obsessed person, constantly thinking about death and blood. But it does surprise me that I don’t see more lifeless bodies scattered around the roads coupled with totaled bikes and dented and smoking cars ominously immobile on the sidewalk, especially in the more heavily congested areas of traffic where even the promise of immediate death cannot scare anyone into being more careful and aware of other people on the road.

I sometimes imagine that the reason why people evade massive injury or fatal accidents on a day to day basis is due to another popular Chinese custom: spitting. This practice also takes place on the streets of Beijing and, coincidentally, it also seems to be something where proximity to other people holds very little concern to the person engaging in the act. It’s as if spitting creates this protective sphere around the people here; not only does it shield them from my scathing glares when they happen to spit centimeters away from my feet, but it also shields them from being hit by cars, bikes and other people when they walk or drive or bike around the city.

I am not Chinese by birth or by custom, so naturally I am not immune to the onslaught that is commuting in Beijing. Already, after living here for only five months, I’ve nearly been injured and/or killed several dozen times.

On one occasion, I was walking to a restaurant in a small alley behind a popular outdoor mall called ‘The Village.’ Of course, since this is one of the most heavily congested places to walk through with tourists and locals alike, cars, vans and trucks conclude that this is the best street to drive through for shortcuts to the main road. On this rarest of occasions, the car trying to smoothly drive through hordes of people was actually driving slowly and may actually have been taking into account the value of a human life. (This is not always the case for people who drive cars in the city.) I had to stop and look at this foolhardy driver trying to move through such a congested street. The closer he got to me, the more I realized that he really wasn’t watching where he was going. And there I stood, with nowhere to move, as he lightly tapped me on the leg with his front tire. The shield was broken. He sheepishly looked up at me and mumbled a quick ‘Dui bu qi.’ I looked at him, flabbergasted. What should I have said to him? ‘Oh, don’t worry about it, you only ran into my leg…with your car,’ while I quickly wiped the tire tracks off of my jeans…

That’s just one of the lesser occasions where I have had a literal run-in with another commuter on the street. I digress into going in to the more frightening details of other similar occasions. Well, it was frightening for me - city commuters here experience these kinds of near-disasters on a daily basis. They're pros at mentally blocking near-death experiences on the streets of Beijing from their minds

So here are a few pointers I’d like to share with the world of Beijing commuters on commuting etiquette:

1. In a competition with cars vs. people or bikes, cars will always win. And cars, I don’t think that’s a game you really want to play. Speaking for walking people and bikers, we’d like not to die, please.

2. Walking in the middle of a bike lane with your back to oncoming traffic and with headphones on so you can’t hear the incessantly ringing bells warning you to move out of the way is not, I repeat not, good for your general physical health.

3. Walking in bike lanes against traffic when there is a perfectly nice and well-paved sidewalk literally inches from you that will also take you where you need to go is annoying…to me. One day I will hit you for good measure.

4. Beeping or ringing your bike bell at other people to warn them to move out the way is fine…when there is actually a place for someone to move so you can pass. Analyze the road space situation first prior to beeping. Otherwise I will annoyingly ride my bike in the middle of the bike lane, even when I have room to move over for you.

5. Bike lanes are for bikes. Not people. Not cars. It is not a parking lot. Or a place to hang out and chat on the phone or with your friends. If you are confused about what the space is for, look at the nice picture on the pavement-of a bike.

6. Merging onto oncoming traffic, turning to the left or right and stopping in front of bike/car lanes suddenly is not a good idea.

7. Headphones, cell phones and electronic games are probably best spent using when you don’t have torrents of people, cars and bikes swirling around you promising to hit you-or at the very least curse at you-when swerving out of your path and thereby saving your life for another day.

8. Lastly, the golden rule: left, right and left again. It will save you and me a lot of grief.

Or maybe I should just take up spitting.

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Hope you enjoy this one, even if it was a little angry. I can't say enough how I've adapted to commuting in Beijing. It still annoys me at times, but I can take it with a grain of salt more often these days. My mantra is, "If you hate it that much, move to a different place!" Three years later, and I'm still here! :)


One more recollection piece to go for the month of March. Thank you, China Blog Contest, for helping me share the memories.