Have you ever had had your life flash before your eyes?

If not, you should try riding a Taxi in Chongqing.

When we were coming from the airport, we saw a sign with a red circle and a slash, and a picture of a Horn. Melissa looked at it and said "Why is there a No Trumpets sign"? Well, as it turns out, there is a law against drivers using their horns inside the city. Not that it does much good. Pretty much every vehicle we have been on has had the horn set to full automatic. They probably have to be replaced every 10,000 miles or so. But there's a good reason for that.

Many people have told me that Chinese people don't understand the whole concept of waiting in line. Well, so far as Driving lanes are related to lines, The same problem holds true on the road as well. And not just Lanes, Pretty much every single thing that my driver's ed teacher showed us, we saw violated last night.

We were going to go to a scenic spot up on a hill, and since there were only 2 families going, we took Taxis. I have never been so scared for my life. I think the only time we were actually in a single lane for more than 30 seconds was when other cars were merging into our lane from both sides. Melissa gets worried driving I-77 through Charlotte... with this, she was so scared she was laughing hysterically.

If the driver needed to get into another lane, he just did. No checking mirrors, no waiting for a spot, he just yanked the wheel, and assumed that other drivers would adjust accordingly. Going up a winding, curvy mountain road, passing buses and dump trucks in a curve. Our guide XiXi took it all in stride, didn't phase her at all. At one point, we were on a 6 lane road, with 3 lanes going our way, and we were on the far right. Well, traffic wasn't going fast enough, so the driver pulled out into oncoming traffic, behind another taxi. Well, that taxi had to stop to avoid getting hit, so then the driver pulled over even one more lane to go around it... So we were 2 lanes deep into oncoming traffic.

At another point, we were coming up to an intersection, and needed to go right. However, there were 2 lanes, one straight only, one left only and a giant sign saying no right turns. The arrow lights for both lanes were red, with several cars stopped. So, Our driver did what any rational person would do. He went into oncoming traffic to the left, around all the cars stopped at the light and hung a right.

I know that Yao Ming is an NBA star from China, but I'm really wondering if it would be worth it for some NASCAR teams to start recruiting Cab drivers over here.

On the way back, We weren't able to get taxis, but some guy there offered to take us in his Van. Well, I call it a van. In the US, it would be considered a compact car at best. Think of the old VW Busses, but about 2/3 scale size... and just as old. Mind you, this was Our guide, 4 parents, 2 infants, the other family's 6 year olds, and our 4 year old... Plus the driver. When we said we wouldn't have anywhere to sit, I think he offered to get a stool out of the back. Luckily, he didn't drive as insanely, but in the US I'm pretty sure he would have had enough points on his license to have his right to drive revoked on the spot.

You might think that driving is so dangerous, why not walk? Well, that's not much better. Just as lanes aren't a really solid concept, neither are sidewalks. There are more than a few times where I had to get off the sidewalk, just to avoid getting hit by a car who decided there were too many cars in the road. I've only seen one crosswalk with walk/don't walk lights, and it was pretty much ignored as well. The secret to crossing the road is to look left and look right. If there is a Chinese person crossing at the same time as you are, you have decent odds of making it across in one piece. In the area we are in, it is a very scenic spot, almost like Times Square, but bigger. Everything, including Sidewalks and roads for a few square blocks is paced with polished granite blocks, like cobblestones, but a lot more expensive looking. The only thing that distinguishes sidewalk from road is a line that was painted years ago, and has mostly been worn off by now.