mainland China

[mikie]

Well, for the past couple of weeks I've been vacationing in various parts of China, and - would you believe - I've not spotted even one LeMans (or any other Guzzi, or any other Italian bike for that matter). I have been paying some attention to the motorcycles here, and most of them are of the 125 cc variety, and there are lots of BMW clones with sidecars - much like Rich's Ural, I would imagine. The most astonishing thing about riding here, though, is the way the traffic moves. It's pretty much anarchy and chaos. not only the motorcycles split lanes, but so do cars, trucks and busses, and on a regular basis. Lines in the middle of the road are meaningless, and traffic lights don't carry a lot of weight either. Crossing the street is scary. It's amazing, though, that there seem to be MUCH fewer accidents here than I see at home in L.A., and the drivers are very skilled in negotiating this type of traffic environment successfully. I'm just glad to be riding in others' cars and in taxis (there's another experience!). Anyway, it'll be good to get home to normalcy and the Guzzi next weekend; although this has been a great trip and I'd recommend it to anybody.