Traffic Tribulations

I love music, and I'll listen to my mp3 player all day every day walking around in London. I can be fairly confident that the pavement is reserved for people and maybe the odd kid on a tricycle, and that there are laws against crushing pedestrians, should I ever have the need to step onto the other bit. The bit with the fast-moving big bits of whizzing metal.

In contrast, the law of the road here has been replaced by the LAW OF THE JUNGLE. Trucks will happily rock up onto the curb if it means bagging a choice parking space in the middle of the pavement, and red lights are treated as suggestions at best, pretty lights at worst. Don't even get me started on zebra crossings. They don't mean the same thing as they do back home.

So I haven't had any music on at any point while out and about so far. I can't afford to use up a sense, and in fact a couple of extra senses would come in handy too. The ability to detect the invisible road-markings that make it alright to mount the pavement at speed, and some sort of telepathy to make up for the non-use of indicators would be a great start.

I snapped this while crossing the road near 红博广场. It's uncharacteristically calm right then, but you can still see that it's a multi-lane roundabout system with not a traffic light in sight. Locals have a knack of weaving their way through 30mph cars, dragging their toddler or tiny yappy dog behind them, and emerging unscathed on the other side. It's a skill which I have yet to develop. I normally start off strolling, then panic halfway and sprint the rest, flapping my arms while emitting a terrified strangled screech.

When I told Sarah I was avoiding Beijing because I didn't like the dilapidated, run-down feel to it, she laughed. She's been to both cities, so that was hardly reassuring. Harbin's not half as bad as I thought it would be, though. Perhaps it's a case of being pleasantly surprised against low expectations.

This is the main feature of the central square downtown (if there is such a thing - Harbin seems very spread out). It's not the most-impressive thing, but it's well-maintained and I like the snowflake! You can see in the background that at least parts of town are pretty modern. That's not a moat running around the bottom, by the way, that's black snice.

On this particular trip, I paid a visit to 苏宁 (Su Ning), which is a big chain store that sells household electrics and electronics. A Chinese Curry's or Dixon's if you will. I didn't buy anything, but this sign on the second floor made me laugh.

The first character, 由 means 'because of' or 'through' as in 'through this method/process'. The second character, 此 is a literary word for 这 or 'this'. The last three words 下一楼 are straightforward enough, saying 'down one floor'. So, the English translation should be 'By this [method you can] go down a floor', or more naturally 'This way down'. The first two characters 由此 taken together, though, can also be read 'thus', or 'therefrom'. This is why 'Therefore go to the first floor' is printed underneath.

I know I'm a massive dork but it felt like I was in a poorly written computer role-playing game. A gravelly voice narrates: "Your +1 Discount Card of Azeroth has Expired. Therefore go to the First Floor." Yet another case of a dictionary translation gone wrong.