A green man does not necessarily mean cars will stop coming; a horn sound is not "I am alerting you to something wrong" but rather "I am coming through it is up to you to get out of the way". The lanes on freeways are optional, as is the direction in which you can travel (reverse is acceptable if you have overshot your exit); right of way means "I’m in the way, therefore I’m right," and so on. There is a great deal of stereotypes bandied about by expats to do with Chinese driving, so I tend to avoid the issue completely, that is until Peter Hessler of the New York Times explained it in such brilliant terms to make it seem blindingly simple:
"People drive like they walk. They like to move in packs, and they tailgate whenever possible. They rarely use their turn signals. If they miss an exit on a highway, they simply pull onto the shoulder, shift in reverse, and get it right the second time. After years of long queues, Chinese people have learned to be ruthless about cutting in line, an instinct that is disastrous in traffic jams…"
©
"People drive like they walk. They like to move in packs, and they tailgate whenever possible. They rarely use their turn signals. If they miss an exit on a highway, they simply pull onto the shoulder, shift in reverse, and get it right the second time. After years of long queues, Chinese people have learned to be ruthless about cutting in line, an instinct that is disastrous in traffic jams…"
©
