The recent traffic in Shanghai is worse and worse. Wendy and I was deeply annoyed by the current situation. The trip from our home to my office was used to be 45-50 minutes, but now, it is always more than 1 hour. There are many metro stations along the Zhaojiabang Road (4 of them), and Xujiahui just detoured all the traffic on Hongqiao Road to allow space for Metro #9, and #11 station construction. This adds another minute delay.
So we have decided to leave home before 7:00 AM instead of before 8:00 AM. This is the first try. We wake up at 6:40, and left home before 7:00 AM. The reason we choose 7 is, then we can get to the elevated highway before 7:30 AM, from when we are not allowed to use the road.
Today’s test is discouraging. It also takes 1 hour for us to get to Xujiahui. The good thing is, though, we don’t need to worry about being late to office.
So, we thought of an even more aggressive plan. We hope to stick to 7 AM for some time, and push our limit forward to leave home at around 6:00 AM. Let’s see what it looks like.
P.S. What we can confirm is, one day, we left home at 5 AM, and it was pretty empty everywhere, which inspired us to wake up early to avoid the traffic.
Update about Earthquake
Like all the other days, we sit before TV to watch what is going on in the earthquake area. The jammed dam was dangerous enough to breakout, and tonight, they have to migrate about 300,000 people from Mianyang to higher mountains. The plan to move more than 1 million people is in place in case the dam collapse. It is another round of danger for the suffered people there. I will keep my fingers crossed, and keep donating money to them. If you want to help, I would appreciate it on behalf of the people in epicenter.
Thinking of Charity Sale of eBook of this Blog
I am also thinking about assembly something, like a e-book of all my blog entries with pictures, to put on a charity sale on my blog. 100% the money will go to disaster relief efforts. Anyone has any idea about what is the best way to do it based on a MovableType platform?
Expect the traffic in and around Shanghai to get much worse as car ownership becomes more prevalent.
How about Teleworking?
Or Car sharing?
Or taking subway?
Does it take more than one hour for you to use the subway to get from your Pudong home to Xujiahui? Why not only use the car for weekends and trips other than work, in a more European style? I’ve now returned to Shanghai after just three years away, and the increase in private cars is amazing. An increasing number of car commuters during rush hour has so many bad points, and public transportation is so good in Shanghai now. How about trying the subway at 7, maybe before it too is so crowded?
Wow! The traffic is becoming a pain in the ass in Shanghai too?
I’m in Mexico now, but I have lived in China and travelled and visited many places, this seems to become a bigger and usual problem in cities, These days I’m prefering to use the public transportation since it’s cheaper and I help the environment and also because I have free time to read or do some other pending task instead of being angry and mad in the traffic, it’s nonsense and also because we know the oil is getting more and more scarce, thus more expensive! All the people of the world should be cautious about continue to buy cars indiscriminatedly! Cars that wont have fuel in a couple of years of which oil need will be more expensive than the car in some point!!!
Every country should stop this and promote the use of other means of transportation besides helping people to find jobs,schools and all the needs of daily life closer to their homes!
We are too many people in the world and the resources are limited… Let’s take conscience!
PD Jianshuo, congratulations in your ideas to help and donate! I’m sure one recopilation of your many stories, maps and orientations will be very helpful for everyone and specially if you prepare it in a printable design, it could become the book of the year, and your donation could be so big!! All the luck!
Thanks for sharing your feelings and concerns with us as always!!!
Wangjianshuo, my sympathies to you and the Chinese people in the midst of the unfolding tragedy with the earthquake and the continuing aftershocks. I have many friends in North America and Europe who want to donate and even physically provide support if possible to the afflicted region (especially in Germany, Austria and South America– I travel there a lot, and a good number of engineers and professionals there that I know, want to provide help to China). If there is anything we can do as far as donations or other forms of help, please provide updates on the blog.
Also just as an aside, I was wondering– is the Chinese government repealing the One Child Policy for people in the earthquake regions? I like China and the Chinese people, and I understand the difficulty of the challenge that China faces– ensuring that the Chinese population stabilizes at replacement fertility (2.1 or whatever), ensuring that the economy is supported by enough young workers. It’s a difficult challenge for any country, and I understand why the Chinese government encourages smaller families (even if i I wish it were more of a voluntary policy).
Still– it just seems cruel to me to be enforcing the One Child Policy now in Sichuan or other regions vulnerable to earthquakes or floods like this. The families love their children and also depend on their kids to grow up and provide for them, and it would seem fair to me to allow families in earthquake or flood-vulnerable regions to have more than one child. If they have only one child and then lose their child– as so many families did– then they lose everything, and in a dangerous region like Sichuan where a schoolhouse can collapse like that, it would seem reasonable to allow couples to have larger families.
Anyway, just my two cents. My heart goes out to everyone there, and again, please let your readers know if there is anything we can do to help for earthquake relief.
This is a non-issue. Just take the Metro to work.
@montebello
According to an announcement from Chengdu govt, families who lost their kids in this earthquake are allowed to have one more child.
Does anyone know, theoretically speaking, how much fine a Han Chinese has to pay to have a 2nd child? Is it supposed to the same amount for different provinces?
My friend’s dad (from Henan) paid a hefty fine for having a second child. However some of my friends coming from a rich province to the south, actually have siblings and their parents were not fined at all. In one case, this particular friend of mine has 3 siblings!
Hey, an eBook for the whole blog. i was thinking of the same thing too quite a while ago. it’s a good idea to strip out all contents of a blog ( your own blog ) and make it an eBook. Wonder if there are good markets for this idea. Have a talk with MoveableType team yet ?
I hop on the subway around 06:30 to avoid the rush hour.
Taking the subway during the rush hour is certainly not a good experience. Especially if you are to take line 2 in the morning, remember not to have too much breakfast, cuz under that kind of pressure, ANYTHING could happen…
shanghai is just over populated and crowded. the word “congestion & jam” is applicable to any kind of transportation (e.g. metro, bus, car, etc). you name it… bicycle lane is not spare.
I don’t suppose you would ever consider moving closer to work. :) There’s some nice places to live in Hongqiao.
According to the CBS evening news, the Nitrogen Dioxide levels increase at a rate of 34% a year in Shanghai, not to mention the carbon dioxide. If the rate of increase is unchecked, it wouldn’t taken too long before the city become uninhabitable.
what about forget the car in the car park and take public transport such buses and metro
its true that if you do not use the car your will not show to people that your own a car (status symbol), but if you do not drive yoru car and go with public transport, you will do to you and to all the following:
1) save petrol money bills in your pockets as well save the cost of car usage
2) most important of all save pollution to you and and everybody, as the not only the choking smokes of yoru car, but all the petrol plastic and pollutant material used for a car will be less consumes.. so finally you will help the world
3) dicreasing the consuem of petrol, will help to decrease wars, in example Iraq, Afganistan, durfur….
so think… instead to wake at 5…. take the subway…. you do a favour to you first and to everybody …
@jerry
“its true that if you do not use the car your will not show to people that your own a car (status symbol),”
Just wear a T-Shirt in the metro with a photo of your car, and a logo saying “This is my car” ;-)
“1) save petrol money bills in your pockets as well save the cost of car usage”
Saving money could allow you to spare it to buy a better one. Increase of status symbol. ;-)
And you will be contributing to reduce pollution and keep you fitter.
Everything perfect.
Hi WJS, it was great to meet you today (Thalia here). I hope there will be other chances to meet up with you in the future! The idea you talked about with the 7 people for a day sounded wonderful, I hope you will blog about it when it starts. :)
Hi Thalia, nice to meet you and happy to know that you are in Shanghai. I should be blogging about it when it comes.
Jian Shuo