Absurdity, Allegory and China

One thing that has bothered me about the odd-even car usage rule in Beijing is that most people are claiming that it takes half the cars off the road, which is not true. Cabs, police, security of every stripe, special exemptions and Olympic vehicles ensure that the number falls well short of one-half. It has also been reported that Tianjin is complying with the vehicle two-step, but it is not apparent by checking the license numbers of the cars around the Olympic Center: both odds and evens lining up at the lights.

I also just received the following from a good friend in Beijing:

My colleague takes the subway to work every day. Starting from today they are checking all passengers with bags, small and large. She said at her station, which is north of the 5th ring road, there was only one stand set up. She waited in line for 30 minutes before she got through. There was no line, just a funnel of people. Starting from tomorrow she’s not bringing a bag to avoid the “security” check. So the subway is supposed to be more convenient?

They’ve taken half the cars off the roads but also 1/3 of the lanes aren’t available. They’ve opened up 3 new subway lines, but now it’s a 30 minute wait to actually get through the security check. They have certainly made it just about as uncomfortable as possible for the people living in Beijing.

This morning it took me longer to get to work than it did before the even/odd plate regulation. Normally my taxi ride is 19-20RMB arriving within 20-25 minutes. Today it was 25RMB and took me 40 minutes.

Be that as it may, it is a brilliant morning in Tianjin: sunny, windy and blue.