Thinking about my trip tomorrow to the Minhang campus of Shanghai Jiaotong University brought back memories of riding the campus bus that runs between the University’s old, city campus (in Xujiahui) and its new suburban location (in deepest, darkest Minhang). I haven’t taken the bus in a while because my class of late has been at the city campus. Three years ago, I was taking the bus at least twice a week.
When I first started, I’d take a seat in one of the middle rows, but soon discovered that with my lanky frame my knees formed a nice chin rest in these rows. Perhaps the back row provides more legroom I thought, and indeed it did; the middle seat with only the aisle in front provided the most legroom of all. It became my seat of choice.
The downside was that a harrowing ride in the best of circumstances became, with no seat belt and nothing to hold on to, as thrilling as the Demon Drop at Six Flags. The bus drivers are all chain-smoking Shanghainese men in their fifties. In their craft to be passed or edged out of the lane you are aiming for is the ultimate loss of face, and the strictly enforced no smoking on the bus policy adds further incentive for them to make it from Point A to Point B as quickly as possible. This means speeding up every 100 yards or so to accomplish a lane change maneuver that produces a sharp whiplash effect to the back of the bus, followed by slamming on the brakes when it turns out the traffic in the new lane is not going as fast as expected. For the first several months, I sat wide-eyed and white-knuckled as this careening/braking went on for the entirety of the 45 minute ride.
Eventually I learned to relax and join my fellow passengers in a little xiuxi. Only at the most violent application of the brakes would I bother to lift an eyelid and note with studied disinterest that we had missed rear ending a loaded school bus or gasoline tanker by inches.
Then one day it happened. The school buses have jump seats so that when there are enough passengers the seats can be folded down starting at the back and eliminating the middle aisle. It was on one of those full days when I had just settled in for a little day dream that the brakes were slammed with such force that the back of the bus literally became airborne. This had the effect of launching me into space with the reentry point being the jump seat six feet in front of me. If these seats had not been in use, I probably would have traveled like a shot down the middle aisle and out the front windshield. As it was, my injuries were quite minor, but a lesson was learned. From then on, although I stayed in the back row, I took a window seat. Let his be a lesson to you as well.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Greg // Apr 12, 2009 at 4:13 am
I well remember that bus ride but I can do you one better. On the day the US started bombing Baghdad, the only seat left was at the front of the bus. So I sat in it next to a middle eastern woman who seemed a bit surprised/unhappy. Dead silence as the bus pulled out and she asks me “what country are you from” and I said “the US”, again, a head roll. I asked her what country she was from and she said “Iraq”, I asked what city, “Baghdad”.
A fun ride, indeed. And I asked around the next day and there was a couple who were both physics teachers at the MinHang campus. I’ll tell you that was not a good first impression of China when I arrived. All of the English teachers were told we’d be in XJH and we end up in BFE where the only way downtown was a 150 RMB cab ride or the minibus, which actually was a great deal and provided me with a bit of celebrity status.
Too bad the #5 metro didn’t exist back then.
2 cmcelwee // Apr 13, 2009 at 4:14 pm
Oh boy, that would have been a fun ride! Don’t think that couple is here anymore, or at least they don’t come to the yearly “holiday” party for foreign teachers. Took the subway back on Saturday. Line 5 is pretty nice, and you can almost always get a seat.
3 Greg // Apr 15, 2009 at 12:00 am
Even after the sprucing up “minan” is still not cool. If you stop in to the tea house or xinjiang restaurant just outside of the main enterance, you are following in my footsteps.
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