Driving

I thought that the way the Chinese drive in their crowded cities was one of the most entertaining things to observe while traveling on the bus.  They drive so aggressively and quick with almost no errors.  They merge much better there than they do here in America.  Most traffic jams are caused because of merging from people getting on the highway.  Modern capitalistic China has allowed for millions to own cars, and therefore they will have congested streets, but because of their system of letting people in, aggressive merging, and talented urban driving skills the traffic is not nearly has bad as it should be.  Cities like D.C. and New York are wretched driving cities and it is often faster to walk, but if all American drivers were taught to drive the way they do in Shanghai and Beijing then we would be a lot better off.    In Chengdu, a Chinese driving licence is issued if you can achieve a pass rate of 90% in the computerized theory test of one hundred (mostly) multiple choice questions. Tests are available in Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish and so on. If you do not pass at 90%, you can do a second test without paying any further fee.  This is a relatively high score for a drivers exam, but it shows they know what they are doing when they pass.  It was always exciting to weave in and out of traffic, I really wanted to get on a scooter there, but I think i would have been killed.  Their were times when i could reach out my window and touch the drivers face across from us because we had gotten so close in our lanes. It mad every trip go by a lot faster, and I would rather watch the Chinese drive than a movie any day.