On a bustling city street in central Beijing, a foreign woman taught a Beijing driver a lesson in traffic manners on October 20, writes the Nanfang Daily on October 27.

 

 

The foreigner stationed her bike in front of the sedan pulled out into the bicycle in a Beijing street on October 20, 2006. [Nanfang Daily]

 

Impatient with the morning rush hour traffic, a silver sedan pulled out into the bicycle lane going from the Chaoyang East Bridge towards the Blue Island Building (Landao Dasha), a move usually tolerated by most Chinese, but this time was corrected by a foreign woman.

 

The neatly dressed middle-aged lady stopped and stationed her bike right in front of the car. She then smiled and politely said something to the driver who totally ignored her, and remained seated in the sedan.

 

 

The driver jumped out of the car, pointing his finger at the woman and began to shout abuses at her on the street. [Nanfang Daily]

 

Maybe lost in a mutual misunderstanding, the two were locked in a stalemate for a few minutes.

 

In a sudden burst of temper, the portly driver jumped out of the car, pointing his finger at the woman and began to shout abuses at her on the street.

 

Even so, she did not budge and insisted that the car get back into the driving lane.

 

Finally, the man got back in his car and turned back into the right lane.

 

In photos snapped by a passer-by identified as An, the lady tried to get herself across by every means possible, from words to gestures, and all were laced in a smile.

 

"It's clear that the woman was trying to get the car back into the car lane instead of the bicycle lane," An said. "I don't think that the driver got that."

 

The whole incident was over within ten minutes and drew quite a few spectators. After the foreigner left some Chinese spectators commented "Chinese really need to be educated this way!"

 

From the Beijing street scenario, a picture of current China's morality situation emerges, while in a dim and unpolished fashion, reads a posting left on Sina.com.

 

It makes no news in recent years of uncivilized behaviors by the Chinese people happened both at home and abroad.

 

The Civilization Office with the national Spiritual Civilization Steering Committee and the National Tourism Administration jointly issued an etiquette guide in October 2 telling Chinese travelers to pay attention to everyday etiquette and hygiene while abroad.

 

Travelers are asked not to litter, not to talk loudly, to respect queuing rules, be polite in public places, and observe the rule of "ladies first."

 

Tapped by the foreign lady, the nation, traditionally an ethic-bound society, might be dismayed at the gap between the Chinese and the westerners, not only in economy, but also in social conscience.

 

(China Daily November 2, 2006)