Pick an old lady...

...and follow her. Don't make eye contact with the taxi cabs. Don't even look in the direction of a city bus: you'll lose your nerve. Just pick an old lady, stare at her back wheel, and follow her into the flow. It's the best way to get across the biggest of intersections.



I wonder if all the urban planners that are advocating for multi-use boulevards have seen what they turn into when you toss a few hundred bikes into an intersection?

My 'insiders' guide book says that if a day goes by in Beijing without you seeing something surreal, you're not paying attention. I say, if a day goes by without a reminder that you are in a developing country, you're hanging out in too good of neighborhoods.

In Haidian, because all those big intersections are all clogged up, the most efficient way of moving hardware around continues to be the traditional one:



I imagine these guys riding out to a parking lot somewhere and transfering their loads to a panel truck. And if you're not in the mood for a flat panel monitor, you can always talk to the guy with the loudest bicycle I've ever encountered:



And buy a cicada. I think the nicer cages are an upgrade.