We are now in what appears to be Tian Jin’s morning rush hour. There is a bike lane on the right which is packed with hoards whom I assume are on their way to work, as it is 8am. When they attempt to cross the major streets, the westerner’s activity is equally divided between the urge to gawk in fascination and the urge to cringe and cover her eyes. As I mentioned lat year, staying in your lane is an extremely vague concept around here. Much of the time, especially in the city, cars straddle the line.
Now I am writing, partially to avoid watching the traffic. At every other minute, what would be considered a “near-miss” in the States are happening, and we are in scary proximity to these events. One good thing is that this increases one’s prayer life and appreciation for an accident-free existence. A guy on a bike just wobbled precariously in our direction, his orange lunch bag clutched in his left hand, along with the handlebars. I’m including some photos of bikes in close proximity to cars, so you can see what I mean.
In spite of the McDonald’s invasion (the one in Lang Fang is open 24 hours) – I still haven’t seen any grossly overweight people in China – not one, even in Beijing. You occasionally see someone who looks like they ate a few too many delicious dumplings, but in general they are all slim. No wonder, with all this bike-riding. Add to that the tons of vegetables, fruits, and fish in their diet – then the only offence, by USDA standards, is the ubiquitous white rice, which is the staple of the diet.
We must be getting close to the hospital now, as it is 8:25 and our ETA was 8:45 or so. Traffic is vey heavy in this town, and combined with the smog, it is pretty oppressive. Ahhhhh! Zhong just turned on the air conditioner, right when I was about to melt into the seat. He must have read my thoughts.
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