Crash

China does not have a good record on the roads. There are many accidents but as we do not travel a great deal on the roads we seldom see an accident. However, this one was on the road between Hangzhou and Wuzhen.

The traffic travelling in the same direction as us was flowing smoothly until we came across this accident, which must have happened some minutes before we reached the spot. Luckily it appeared that no one was hurt, but the truck had swiped the guard rail for quite some distance, before it stopped, spilling its load of cardboard and paper across the road.

On the opposite side of the road was a huge backlog of traffic - a traffic jam that went on for miles. Trucks of all shapes and sizes, busloads of tourists and travellers, as well as private cars were stuck in the chaos. Many were out of their vehicles and on their cell phones trying to see what was going on I guess.

Scooters, bikes.................

These photos do not really do justice to the huge number of vehicles that ply their way through the streets of Shaoxing, park all over the footpath, tangle with pedestrians on pedestrian crossings, wend their way in and out of cars and busses in the city streets.

There is no road range either. They seem to accept that this is what happens and there is a bizarre "game" of dodgem played out every second on the roadways around here.

Carts and more carts

These guys are amazing. This photo shows some sitting at a street corner with their three wheeled vehicles. If someone needs transport for a large or heavy items - these are the guys that will happily do it. For a fee of course. This is their living - their income.

They wait in strategic places for a call to go and collect and deliver. There are amazing loads put on these carts.

One I saw was carrying office equipment - desks and chairs, and a man was sitting on one of the chairs as the driver hurtled through the traffic.