the buses of chengdu

the moped, the bike, the rickshaw, the car, the car that looks like it should be a moped. all of these are wonderful ways to get around the city. i, however, am relegated to the bus. now it is possible to take a taxi into chengdu from where i work and live, but with a price 15-45 times expensive as the bus, that is saved for weekends when i am out later than the buses run. and do they run. the system is quite good albeit a bit confusing.

a few times during the day, the bus is a relaxed affair. you put in a single yuan (about an eigth of a dollar) into the receptacle, and you ride until you get off. the seats are comfortable, as bus seats go, and there are ads for gatorade featuring yao ming, that star of stars (almost everyone's favorite nba team here is the houston rockets). my favorite seat is on the right side of the bus, after the second door. it is a single seat bolted to the wheel well. you can put your feet up on the handrails by the door, and people seem to avoid that seat...perhaps because of the bumps. i lean my head out the window, even though a couple of giggling girls hot to practice their english told me it was dangerous. now i don't know about dangerous, but you want to avoid leaning your head out the window on the left side, as you are likely to be spattered with loogies of the bus driver.

spitting is an art in china. a unisex art. after hearing a massive snot gathering, you are as likely to see a woman as a man launch the contents of their sinuses into the street. snot rockets are popular here as well.

however, i digress. i sit watching the advertisements for new housing developments go buy, the scooters passing, being passed, then passing once again, and the massive amount of commercial establishments once we reach the city proper. it is a nice ride, when i am not packed like, dare i say it, a sardine in a can.the state of the bus usually more like this. i guess when you have 10.2 million people living in a city, the bus is going to be full most of the time. now you pay a single yuan and cram yourself into the cattle herd of humanity that has gathered at the front of the bus. now i recommend that you hush that fuss, and move to the back of the bus. for some reason, most of the standing crush resides in the front of the bus, and if you can make it past the rear door, there is usually much more space. people board with roll-on luggage, nothing but the clothes they are wearing, plastic sacks filled with what seems to be fertilizer, anything and everything. no chickens yet, but i'm waiting. they seem to travel mostly by rear of moped.

as for seating, people are very wary of the elderly and the pregnant. people will stand up and shout "qing zuo, qing zuo" (please sit, please sit) immediately whenever someone in either condition board. (there are many pregnant women about, this being a little more than 8 months after chinese new year and the winter festival.) i was standing once when a few people would not give up their seat to an elderly man, and the bus driver started shouting at them. eventually, younger but older man stood up, giving his seat to the man. clearly, the reason he had not stood before is because he thought someone younger should have stood first. i felt the same. kids these days.

but when trying to give your seat to a younger person, such as a more vivacious expectant mother, or a woman whose foot you just crushed, expect a bit of a fight. a simple single qing zuo won't do it. you have to plead with them to take your seat. if you say please sit enough, and ignore their cries of "it's okay, i can stand" (at least i imagine that's what they say) you will be able to get them to sit down. because of course they want to sit down, but they don't want to accept on the first offer. good ole chinese culture.

but it beats walking.