Driving

I've only been in Suzhou, China for about two weeks, but some of the driving rules are starting to become clear: * No one yields the right of way. It belongs to the and they aren't about to give it up. * If you want to change lanes, make sure you don't hit the car in front of you. The car beside you is of no consequence. * The yellow line in the middle of the road simply marks where the middle of the road is. It has nothing to do with which side you drive on. * A double yellow line more clearly marks where the middle of the road is. * If your honk your horn it generates an invisible protective shield that will protect your car. The horns on the oncoming traffic however, do not have the same feature. * The law of mass tonnage does not apply in their minds. In practice, pedestrians lose to bikes; bikes lose to mopeds; mopeds lose to scooters, scooters lose to motorcycles; motorcycles lose to cars; cars lose to trucks and everyone loses to buses. * There are no red octagonal signs in China. * If you need to pass the car in front of you, just do it. Oncoming traffic will move over for you. * If you need to pass the car in front of you that is passing the car in front of them, just do it. Oncoming traffic will move over more for two of you. * Just because every major road has one entire lane each direction designated as a bike/moped/scooter lane does not mean that all bikes/mopeds/scooters will use it. * Slow, 1-cylinder tuk-tuks should always avoid driving in the right hand lane. * Having a traffic signal that has a red left arrow does not prevent you from turning left. This especially applies to bikes/mopeds/scooters in the bike lane. * At any time, your three lanes, all with arrows pointing straight ahead, may become two lanes without warning in the middle of the block. * At any time, your two lanes, all with arrows pointing straight ahead, may become three lanes without warning in the middle of the block. * Traffic circles are one of the great mysteries of the orient to 99.95% of all drivers of any type of vehicle. * When your red count down timer gets to 04, you should start across the intersection. * When your green count down time gets to 00 and changes to red, you should continue crossing the intersection for four more seconds. * There is no such thing as "J"-walking. In fact people have just as much right to walk down the center of the lane as, say, a bus does. * Parking is where you get out of your car at. Blocking part of a lane is not an inconvenience to anyone. * Any vehicle that is capable of moving at any speed is allowed on the highway. * The number of seats in your vehicle should not limit the number of passengers.