Pedestrian Crossing skills

So far, I have survived my daily commute. Everyday makes you appreciate life in different light. 

On my second day, heading to the bus pass office, he said welcome to Jinan and good luck. Everyday you leave home and return home safely, you should thank your lucky stars (not his exact words but close). His exact words - "leaving your house everyday (in China) is like having a death wish".

I am originally from Lagos, Nigeria so his words had no scary impact because as I could see, traffic in Jinan is nothing compared to most areas in Lagos (areas like Mushin, Idumota, Oshodi etc).

Dangerous, yes! Daring, yes! Deadly, very true but all quite doable; from my daily encounters, Jinan's traffic is somewhat scary but doable. You just need the weaving and shuffling skills to get your whole self from point a to b. This is a skill that guarantees you getting to the other side but does not in any way guarantee your safe return home. Most drivers, drive at a steady speed (somewhat fast) but the failure to stop as required as needed is what makes it scary. You see a driver looking right at your but to him/ her, that is not a reason to slow down or stop for you to get to the other end safely.

As a two legged machine, you are sharing the sidewalk and pedestrian crossings with any wheels less than four. Good thing there are traffic lights and traffic police every where even though most times the green crossing pedestrian lights are always ignored (see video below).

My usual worry till date is finding a seat on the bus (always packed even at 6am on a Sunday morning), and running into no delay. Yes, delay - most foreigners are kind of a celebrity. On few occasions I have had to tap on my imaginary wristwatch to signal I am in a hurry and can't stop to take pictures.

Note the green pedestrian crossing light (mid/top section of the car)

Commute in Jinan is not very safe as majority of the drivers do not acknowledge the pedestrian crossing lights. You basically just go with the flow when crossing like everyone else around you. All you senses need to be on their ''A'' game if you know what I mean. Crossing with determination to make it to the other side in one piece with little to no bruises to you or others. You are crossing with 2 wheelers and sometimes 3s while trying to avoid being run over by 2s, 3s, 4s and above

There is love in sharing … all wheels less than 4s.

I have few more videos to upload but for some reason, I am not able to connect to the internet on my laptop and I'm having difficulties loading them via the phone app. 

Thanks for riding with me.