2002-05-09

Chinese driving test

We are required us to have Chinese drivers licenses and, though it wasn't necesary for Helge's previous trip in 2000, we must all take a driving test.

Pictured are David Wilde, Bryan Clague and Helge Pedersen at the test machines.

Though the questions were in English they were a bit confusing. Sample questions:

Q: If your car should hit a pedestrian, what should you do immediately?
(A) Identify yourself and leave.
(B) Use your car to help the injured person and report to the police.
(C) Keep the scene intact, help the injured person and then report to the police.

Q: When the horn and windshield wipers fall and the vehicle ahead of you is driving slowly, you
(A) May overtake in the range of safe restriction.
(B) Are not allowed to overtake the vehicle.
(C) Overtake the vehicle ahead on condition of safety.

Not a single one of us passed! Sterling Noren even managed to fail it twice as he took it on John Shelton's behalf. I had the embarrassing distinction of failing with the lowest score of the group: a 40 out of 100. Only scarcely better than random guessing!

In the U.S. the written part of a driving test is considered, to put it mildy, more of a reading test. You would think, having taken thirteen tests, just by luck, at least one of us would pass. How will we drive in China without our licenses?

The Chinese gave us our licenses anyway. It was probably more important to collect our fee for taking the test.

Now we each have a bonafide Chinese drivers license to take back home and present to a police officer the next time we get pulled over. Keep your eye on my journal for what will surely be a hilarious story in the future. And, in case it will be a policeman without a sense of humor, Deb, keep your cell phone handy for when I get to make that one phone call.

Jim Hay responds to, "It is sorry that you do not pass."

We all laughed about the test over lunch. Pictured are David Wilde, Ian Wood and Roy Cox.

A Chiang Jiang. It's a copy of a 1938 BMW R71 motorcycle still being produced in China today. Click on the link for a little more of the story behind this living museum piece.

Here's a useful tip for you. The next time you're in Shanghai and find yourself strolling past the Russian Embassy try your best to resist the temptation to whip out your camera and take a photo. A gun-toting soldier guarding the embassy just might think it's a very bad idea and come running toward you shouting loudly. Don't ask me how I know this. Just take my word for it.

Shanghai is a city with one foot on the past and the other one in the future The Pu river divides Shanghai in two. On one side is the old city with its decaying Soviet style architecture. On the other is new Shanghai, a thriving economic center with modern steel-and-glass skyscrapers.

Much has changed in China since Mao's Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976 and the new 'open' policy of 1978. We tend to think of China as presenting one face to the world but in reality there is much disagreement, discussion and debate within its leadership. Deng Xaioping understood that China had to embrace some aspects of capitalism when he said, "It doesn't matter if it's a black cat or a white cat. As long as it catches a mouse it's a good cat."

Shanghai has a population of 16 million people. Turn your head in almost any direction and you will see building cranes and construction underway. 70% of the highways were constructed in just the last ten years. Shanghai is a major port city and in Chinese characters the name means, literally, "overseas". The Chinese view it as the new commercial center for all of Asia and they are making heavy investments to improve its infrastructure.

Roy Cox and Rick Wetzel at the statue of Mao.

There are some problems with getting our bikes. Ian's and Bryan's bikes were sent directly from Australia and have been delayed in transit. There is a chance they won't have them in time for our scheduled departure from Shanghai. All of the others are sitting in a cargo container on a ship in port. Today is Thursday so we hope to have the container unloaded quickly because if we don't get the bikes by tomorrow we may have to wait past the weekend.

Things went smoothly on Helge's previous trip but the paperwork has changed and procedures are must more strict following 9/11. There is some disagreement with the bureaucracy over the paperwork, and, apparently some additional fees they insist on us paying. Helge and our Chinese guides are involved in the negotiations and the stress is clear on their faces. The rest of us wait outside the government buildings and tour the city.

In China they take the phrase "portable office" a bit more literally.

Dinner that evening. From the extreme left, clockwise around the table: Mike Paull, Roy Cox, Jim Hay, Mike Mathews, John Shelton, Sterling Noren, Rick Wetzel, Bryan Clague, Ian Wood, David Wilde, Jim Harding, Helge Pedersen.

We are anxious to get our motorcycles and begin our ride.

Shanghai at night.