On the Road

Well-we have a new driver, Mr. Fan. I spoke way too soon on how great Mr. Wang was. The part where he was supposed to wait and drive us around when we needed him seemed to be problematic for him. I was ready to go all “Norma Rae” for him to make sure the drivers had a warm, comfortable place to wait; and also to petition the company he worked for to allow him to take the car home instead of having to park and take public transportation. But after he failed to show up several times, lied to us about needing to go to office meetings and having the car serviced so he would not have to be available to us, we knew we had a problem. For crying out loud, the car still had plastic on it because it was so new out of the factory, and he is trying to tell me it is at 5000 miles and needs oil change! When I told him he could not go, he then became intentionally rude to me as well. I am not asking for him to kiss my butt, but common courtesy is required on this job, as well as any other. Well, enough about him... Meet Mr. Fan a.k.a. "Fred"








For those of you thinking this is just a luxury to have a chauffeur, let me set the record straight. We are NOT allowed to drive in China. Why? Because driving in China is CRAZY/borderline suicidal and they don’t trust us to do so safely.


As far as I can determine here are the rules of the road: THERE ARE NONE! But, here are the general guidelines I have observed:

1. Stop signs and lane lines are just there as “suggestions”; the Chinese people don’t stand in line for anything. It’s just a mad push to the front, and the same goes for traffic. We learned in our cultural class that in a country of 1.3 billion people, they long ago decided that if you snooze, you lose. You better be aggressive if you want to get any where, get anything and survive. Just push and wedge your way in- no need to stay in a lane/line and move forward in an orderly fashion. Whoever is bigger and more aggressive wins. Which brings me to guideline 2…


2. Big truck barreling down road has right of way over bus; bus over van; van over car; car over minicars; minicars over motorcycles; motorcycles over bicycles. I’m not sure who yields; the bicycle rickshaw or the donkey driven cart—guess it just depends how road ragin’ the donkey is that day. Not kidding-- we all share the roads. :-)


3. To prove you have the right of way and you are coming through, apparently you just lay on the horn and flash your lights--ALL the time.


4. We also share the road with about a billion Chinese pedestrians whom have taken “Frogger” to a higher art form. They take their lives in their hands and just run out into the street, hoping that it is just a pedicab and not a truck that hits them if they misjudge. We have at least 3 expat families who have seen deaths on the side of the road so far, it is not an uncommon sight, very sad to say.

I know it sounds like a good gig to be chauffeured around, but it is a HUGE loss of independence. You have to really plan your days ahead and how to share the car with your spouse. ( yet another challenge to marital harmony) You cannot just “run” to the store or around the corner if you need a little last minute something. On the driver’s day off you are pretty much home bound.


Our new driver, Fred, does not speak much English but is working out quite well so far. He is also good with the kids and is eager to help in any way he can. He is working on his English and helping me with my Chinese. Best of all, he is available when we need him and hasn’t disappeared-yet! He and Carter have become good buddies and Taylor likes to help him with his English. However, we have learned not to talk to him while he drives, because he tends to look at me instead of the road. See above… So I sit here and type to you all instead!

p.s. After a few weeks he decided he wanted an American name so he renamed himself "Fred" :-)