China - Transportation

Walking, wagons, wheelbarrows, bikes, electric bikes, electric motor bikes, cars, trucks, boats, subways, high speed trains but not very many planes.  I've walked a bunch, ridden in cars, a minibus, subways, and high speed trains during this past week. 

I think walking is by far the most dangerous.  The person move, not the car or bike.  The only good way to move around downtown Wuxi (Wooshe) is to walk.  The city as a new subway going in and most of the streets in the downtown area are closed.  Need to walk about the barriers erected to keep people out of the construction zone.  I enjoy this the mode of transportation the most.  Have those chance glances at many people and some want to talk.  Interesting. 

Wagons are not so common here in Wuxi, non existent in the area of Shanghai I was at, prevalent in the rural area heading toward Taizhou.  I saw more than a few of these hand driven carts in the smaller city of Taizhou. 

Bikes, electric bikes and motor bikes have a ranking all their own.  The bikes and the low class while the electric motor bikes are the high class bikes.  Silent and dangerous to the walkers.  These electric bikes are all over the place and in many ways, the only way to go any distance.  I've seen whole families ride on one bike.

Cars and buses, a polite dance to avoid damage.  The cars nose in when a slight opening shows itself only to have the offending driver honk the horn and back off.  I've never seen the American bird, the middle finger, waved at anyone.

Truck and boats take many shapes.  I see very few pickup trucks and no personnel watercraft.  The trucks are large and usually full of materials while the boats are generally like barges and always low in the water. 

The subways and trains are something that I am impressed with.  The subways are clean and safe and the trains are world class.  We traveled to and from Shanghai on a new high speed train reaching speeds of up to 300 km/hr our about 180 mph.  Very smooth and comfortable.  The photo is from a view from my seat of the interior.