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I have a close friend back in California who came to Beijing as a tourist in the 1980s. His impressions of what the city was like then are similar to mine today.
The people are delightful, kind, friendly and happy to help a stranger; the food is without equal; the historical sites and buildings, the cultural relics of generations of Chinese, are breathtaking; and the streets are filled with bicycles.
Well, ahem, they used to be.
Today there are more than 5 million cars clogging the avenues, highways, alleys and sidewalks of this city of 21 million people.
Each year, another 150,000 vehicles are registered.
Bicycle lanes along the sides of streets are often so crammed with parked and double-parked cars and trucks that cyclists are confined to a narrow path between the stationary vehicles and the torrent of honking motorists whizzing by.
Cyclists who stray to the left could get hit, and they would certainly be chastened by a chorus of klaxons. If they cling to the right, they risk running into a suddenly opened car door or a pedestrian who unexpectedly darts from between the vehicles.
Pedestrians have it no easier. At times, they have to thread their way through an obstacle course of vehicles parked on the sidewalks, maintaining some degree of vigilance for a possible van or SUV backing into the crowd.
But the real challenge comes in crossing streets. Crosswalks offer no protection - drivers much prefer using the horn to the brake.
And woe betide the pedestrian who crosses at a four-way intersection. No sooner does he get the green light than a phalanx of motorized cavalry charges from behind sending car after car to cut him off from the relative safety of the other sidewalk.
It's a test of nerves, like running the bulls in Pamplona, except these bulls are 150-horsepower on average and made of iron and steel.
What about the drivers themselves? They pay considerable sums just for the right to put a car on the road - that is, if they are among the one in 10 applicants who succeed in the license plate lottery.
After such a rite of passage, are they then rewarded with the joys of car ownership? That's difficult to answer and really is a question that should be left to them - and, after all, it's one they're likely to ponder from time to time as they sit in traffic jams.
It's difficult to see who benefits from all this car ownership in Beijing, particularly when the public transportation offers such an excellent alternative. Sure, it might help if the buses and subway ran a bit later in a city that never seems to sleep, but the service they provide is among the best in the world. The subway will probably get you from any point A to B in the system faster than a car, and new lines are being built all the time.
And wouldn't we all breathe easier without these cars?
Contact the writer at lydon@chinadaily.com.cn
