Chapter 3 - The ride to work

The city of Tianjin is maybe 50 miles by 50 miles in size.  This includes
many very large industrial parks.  Just the downtown area is at least 5
miles by 5 miles in size with tall buildings spread out dotting the
skyline.  It contains about 6 million people.

When we travel to work it takes about 25-30 minutes of driving through the
city streets to reach the expressway.  The journey through the streets is
an incredible one with thousands of bicycles visible in every direction
especially at the large intersections.  The outside lanes are for bicycles
only and two inside lanes are for trucks, buses, cars.  They drive on the
same side as in the US but they pass in any lane.  The bicycles have the
right of way and the drivers of vehicles will be fully responsible for da
mages in an accident, but the bicycles are bullied at every intersection
and many come with inches of each other.  Last week our car actually bumped
into a bicycle at an intersection right in front of a policeman.  There
were some stares but the policeman checked it out and waved the bicyclist
on his way.  We have seen an occasional accident, and there are places
where we see cars and trucks just left behind after a bad crash.

The city is very dusty and it is hard for anything to be clean, and yet
there are flowering bushes lining the main streets trying to make it
attractive.  Yesterday it rained and it was a blessing as it cleansed the
air and settled the dust.  The poorer people live mostly in apartments and
leave the streets in front in general disarray.  Many things are subsidized
by the government such as rent, electric, and heat, leaving their cash to
buy food and clothing.  The first floor of many buildings are stores of dif
ferent types and we see many vendors on the street itself.  Every morning
we go by many carts with people cooking breakfast and others standing there
waiting for their order.  When the food is ready they will stand there and
eat it, then get on their bike and go to work.

Some bicycles have 3 wheels and carry an incredible load of goods - almost
as incredible as those people in African countries who carry things on
their heads without using their hands.  Some vehicles are undescribable...
they have wheels but you wonder how they still work!  A small number of
people have motorized 2 and 3 wheel vehicles from moped looking bikes to
scooters.  Still others are driving farm tractors and vehicles, and they
come in from a side street as if there was nobody else on the road.  This
ca uses a lot of honking in protest, but they don't waver.  The rule of the
road here is:  the first one to honk has the right of way (as if to say,
"Look out everyone, here I come!")  We are all driven to work by
"chauffeurs" who are hired by the company.  Most of them do not know how to
properly ease a clutch pedal out and smoothly accelerate.  We don't jump
down the road, but they shift into higher gears much too soon only to hear
the small 4 piston engine groan under the strain.  Every time our driver
goes to pa ss a vehicle or bicyclist, he beeps his horn 2 or 3 times.  The
other day I remarked that I do not remember what the horn on my car at home
sounds like, but I sure know what this one sounds like!  There is constant
honking for anything in front of us within 2 car lengths!  Imagine that
coming from every car on the road!

The expressway is a toll road and costs 10 RMB ($1.25) for the 60 km
stretch we have to go.  We travel towards the ocean and are located in the
last industrial park 1 mile from the ocean.  As we travel on the expressway
we reach speeds of 95 to 100 miles per hour (140-160 kph) and it does make
you nervous.  During the first 20 minutes on the expressway we pass many
rice paddies.  The land is all flat and if it were clear you could see to
the horizon.  There are main canals carrying water and smaller canals tha t
control the water to the rice paddies.  Off in the distance on both sides
we can see Power generating stations and tall structures all by themselves.
As we pass the 20 minute mark we reach a toll booth and now we see huge
industrial park complexes that disappear into the haze.  Except for these
buildings it is a desert.  The expressway is in very good condition but
many of the side roads leading off are under construction.  As we continue
to drive we notice that many buildings are empty, and they include wha t
seems to be complete cities of buildings as if they were preparing for an
entire city to move there.  Along the road itself they are adding grass and
small trees, but they are out there watering it each day.

Finally we reach a rotary, and we can see the last entrance to the Free
Zone industrial park in the distance.  As we arrive there we have to drive
through a security gate.  This park is also under construction, and
although we can see our building with Simplex written on it, we have to
detour around the road work to finally arrive at our destination.

The building we are in is 3 stories high and of functional design.  There
are some sales training rooms on the 2nd floor, but the main office is on
the third floor.  The bleak and dirty outside and stairway is transformed
by a very attractive and colorful office as we enter through a glass door
and are greeted by a receptionist.  This is where we spend our time from 9
to 5:30 PM with 30 minutes for lunch.  By the time I get back to the hotel
for dinner it is 7 PM and after waiting through dinner it is 8 PM.  By 9 PM
I find myself feeling sleepy and am usually asleep before 10 PM to wake up
at 5:30 the next morning.