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Strategies & Market Trends : Galapagos Islands -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RealMuLan who wrote (32618)	3/15/2003 2:51:10 PM
From: X Y Zebra	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 57110

China has a relatively good highway system now, the only problem is that most of people cannot afford/don't want to pay that much to drive on them<g>. so for those who can afford (like Jim Roger) is a real advantage<g> because there is few traffic on it. my recollection of [being] driven in China was chaotic at best... thrilling it was and I admit to have enjoyed it even wanted to try it as it sure was a challenge... I loved the fact that there were no speed limits, or at least no one was enforcing them... the real challenge were those make-shift vehicles... <i do not know what to call them...> they looked like farming implements looking like gigantic tillers that were somehow modified to pull a trailer of some sort... to carry whatever cargo that needed to be hauled... I suppose some form of tricycle... The best description I can come up with was a hybrid between a Harley Davidson, a tricycle, a tiller and an antique pick-up truck... it actually looked like small dinosaur -g some pictures: angelfire.com axiom.anu.edu.au axiom.anu.edu.au Anyway whatever they were, they sure were a road hazard as the speed differential between them and the car we were in, was quite considerable so the use of the brakes and any avoiding techniques was continuos; the best of it was when we were passing them in relatively crowded highways (around towns), it made it like a real life thrilling Disney ride... did I mention the on coming buses from the opposite direction while passing them ? -gg The reflexes from the driver were outstanding, his reactions to the many hazards from the above described vehicles to slower cars, actual tractors, donkey carts, bicyclists of all ages, some carrying two additional passengers, darting in and out in front of us as they themselves were avoiding their own hazards to even pigs running across in front of us (when we were in towns), saved us from many collisions... and he was NOT going slow. How we managed to not even once hit or scratch the many obstacles we would come across was a mystery in itself... Oh and another fun part was the outbraking maneuvers going into corners, I mean from a 2 lane road, they would make it at least a three lane road by going into either an inside or middle lane (non-existent, of course and created by the fact that they were passing the other driver). The valor --or lack of fear-- of some of these drivers would put many competition drivers to shame -gg Once out in the open, the traffic diminished quite a bit It is mind boggling attempting to picture in a few years from now, once all these people riding bicycles now, begin to buy cars, and just for the sake of an example... think of hundreds of Mini Coopers darting around the streets replacing the bicycles.... L.A. traffic will be a joy ride in comparison... I can see the concern for pollution and traffic being a nightmare... perhaps out of this mess, a car or whatever you want to call it may emerge... more fuel efficient... something like.... abcnews.go.com and a critical view of it abcnews.go.com Needless to say, I enjoyed my time in China, too bad I do not speak the language as if I did I bet it would have been far more enjoyable. The food btw was great and plentiful, I only wished they would smoke less, indeed, with the amount of smoking they do, why worry about car pollution -ggg