Shanghai expressway looking out from our hotel room. The metro line can be seen on the right side of the picture.

Mom always said look both ways before crossing the street. If there ever was a time to follow her advice, this might be it! The Shanghai traffic is incredible. All types of vehicles occupy the street from petite Volkswagens to trucks three times the length of an “American” truck. The flow of traffic reflects the people of the city. Traffic rules simply do not exist. Horns are used to the fullest potential. It seems an accident should happen every 30 seconds, yet there are very few.

I’ve simplified it down to two types of people who ride in cabs in Shanghai. There are those who are scared for the their life (cough, cough, our professors) and then there are those who absolutely love the ride. Weaving in and out of traffic, it is always a high-speed chase to your destination. Being cut off is the norm. The larger your vehicle, the more road you control. The younger the driver, the faster you will reach your destination.

Our interactions with the taxi drivers have been better then anticipated so far. A Shanghai local on the plane told us that most of the drivers are very honest and fair, as it’s very competitive. For the most part I’ve been able to communicate with the drivers on where we want to go. In such a big city it still amazes us the drivers know how to get there. With the majority of the taxi drivers only speaking Chinese the World Expo has gone to the length of setting up a hotline you can call should you need help communicating with the driver. Thankfully we haven’t had to call the number yet.

As with everything else here, the cab ride was extremely cheep. A ride from our hotel to the Expo, about 30 minutes depending on traffic, cost us only $10. Put four people in a cab and you’ve got a great deal. Beat that NYC!