Advice for travelers to China: Street Crossing

Lights in China, I'm conviced, merely signal who has the right of way. A red light doesn't mean you have to stop, only that you have to yield if there's other traffic coming. As it is, traffic lights are in short supply anyway, and cars aren't. The traffic is non-stop and pedestrians--walk lights, crossing guards, and prettily-striped crosswalks not withstanding--are never given priority. If you are used to a car slowing down when you are on a collision course with them, you are in for a nasty shock. The pedestrian is always the person who has to get out of the way.

Three techniques to protect your health, from beginner to advanced:

a) Sidle up to a local, stick by their side, and cross with them.

b) Treat it like a giant game of Frogger: you only have to make it across one lane at a time. You'll never find a gap big enough to get across the whole street anway, and hanging out in the center of the road is considered perfectly acceptable.

c) After a week or two of playing Frogger, you will suddenly notice that the Force is with you, and that the elbowing people aside in crowds thing has taken on a larger aura. You will notice for the first time that a car actually swerves out of the way if you play chicken until the last moment. You will walk closer to the cars than you did before, scoot in and out of the hundreds of bicycles, and avoid scooters with ease.