Get Busy Living

There’s far less smoking in Beijing than I expected. That said, theair’s so thick with carcinogens that perhaps people find it unnecessary. And everyone says that things have got better in the last few years – back then, smoking was probably a health fad, the filter on the cigarette would at least get rid of the worst of thesmog. I’m having such a good time here, I love it so much, but I can’t help thinking that I should probably discount my happiness bythe two-three months this place could take off my lifespan. I think I’m kidding but I’m not entirely sure.

Aside from breathing, the scariest thing about China is crossing roads. In Israel you live permanently frightened of the taxi drivers, in Cape Town the barging minivans, in Oxford the pandemics of cyclists. In Beijing you have swarms of taxis, crazy driving, endless bicycles, and roads eight-lanes wide. It is genuinely an achievement to make it across the street in one piece, which does give each day a sense of purpose I suppose.

I asked a taxi driver once why they never give way for pedestrians here. “There’s just too many,” he said, “if I ever let one pass then the rest would go too and I’d never get any work done.” I can’t help thinking it's a sub-optimal equilibrium, but I didn't know how to explain that to him in Mandarin.