Being that China is such a big country, the roads there can be built to a larger scale much more American in feel than European (which have tiny roads). The main roads charging through Beijing, for example, are anything up to six carriages wide and the volume of vehicles on these roads is astounding. Cars routinely change from lane to lane - you don't have to be in any lane to overtake, nor have to indicate to let anyone know that you are going to do so. Simply swerve out into any unoccupied road space, no matter how small, and hope that the cars in the lane you're moving into somehow know what you are going to do. Crossroads are frankly insane, with 894 lanes of traffic all converging at the same time in the same place and the drivers don't seem to pay all that much attention to anything that is not vehicular and on the roads ...   more »

So what's it been like living in Beijing, even if it has only been for a few days? Weird and wonderful. It surprised us both just how modern a lot of Beijing actually is and how much of a western feel it has as well. There are brand new shopping malls all over the place (and lots more being built - a feature of Beijing is just how many new buildings are going up in preparation for the Olympics with construction workers going at it night and day), containing all the sort of stores you'd find in most malls and arcades in the UK; French Connection, Morgan, Sony, Lacoste, Mango, Nike, Levi's and if you want refreshment and fast food, there are Starbucks and KFC's everywhere ...   more »