The Ministry said that the most common acts of road rage include cutting off other drivers, tailgating, and sudden accelerating and braking. The culprits are also overwhelmingly male. According to the Ministry, 97 percent of all acts of road rage involve men.

One prominent example went viral this past May when a dash-mounted video camera recorded a vicious road rage incident in Chengdu. After a female driver named Hu changed lanes suddenly, a male driver named Zhang decided to retaliate. Zhang chased Hu until he was able to stop her underneath an overpass, where he assaulted her, leaving her with a concussion and broken bones.

While some netizens were quick to denounce Zhang for his cruelty, others cheered him on, arguing that Hu’s careless driving justified the physical retaliation.

The World Health Organization estimated 261,000 people died on China’s roads in 2013, while the Chinese government said 1,895 pedestrians died in traffic collisions when crossing roads last year.

The post Along With Car Ownership, Severe Road Rage Takes Root in China appeared first on The Nanfang.

Last year, Chinese drivers celebrated World Car Free Day with traffic jams around the country. For this year, authorities decided to do things a little differently: if you can’t persuade a large number of drivers to go car-free, then at least you can isolate certain city street to be free of cars. It’s a more humble goal, but still in keeping with the spirit of World Car Free Day.

CCTV America reports that 170 Chinese cities got involved on World Car Free Day this year with campaigns to promote environmental protection while certain cities like Chongqing imposed traffic controls. Specifically in Beijing, three areas were designated as car-free zones on Tuesday from 9am to 4pm: Wangfujing Boulevard, Nanluoguxiang, and Olympic Center Road.

Beijing drivers were advocated to make detours from these three car-free zones with signs saying “Traffic control, vehicle detour”. However, unlike preparations for the September 3 military parade in which martial law was imposed on the city’s popular Sanlitun area, these car-free zones were only a suggestion made to Beijing drivers and not enforced.

The result was that this year’s World Car Free Day turned out much like last year’s in China. As noted by a reporter for People’s Daily Online, there was no reduction in cars in Beijing’s three designated car-free zones with traffic said to be the same as normal (seen in the gallery above). Meanwhile, the Beijing Transportation Committee said the city’s traffic index during morning rush hour at 8:10am was 8, signifying heavy traffic.

And while much of the focus of World Car Free Day is help advocate drivers to lessen the impact that cars have on the environment, Beijing’s air quality was quite poor, averaging an AQI level over 150, much like conditions during Sunday’s marathon at which a number of heart attacks were reported.

The post World Car Free Day Celebrated in Beijing With Massive Traffic Jam appeared first on The Nanfang.

Look out, Google: while the West is looking to develop driverless cars, China’s development of the technology looks to increase service to commuters through public transportation.

China-based bus manufacturer Yutong has announced a successful run of its driverless bus on city roads. The bus drove 32.6 kilometers from Zhengzhou to Kaifeng under its own control. The autonomous bus identified 26 traffic lights on the road, automatically changed lanes, and was able to overtake vehicles in neighboring lanes through the use of two cameras, four laser radars, one set of millimeter wave radar and an integrated navigation system.

As Yutong deputy chief engineer Tang Wang told the People’s Daily, “You can shift between driverless mode and manual mode” in case the driver needs to take control.

With work starting back in 2012, Yutong says further technological advancements and legal issues must be resolved before we see these buses hit the road.

The post Forget Cars, Google: China is Developing Driverless Buses appeared first on The Nanfang.

It’s this kind of forward-thinking that have lead Chinese dreamers to come up with the Sailing, a hybrid-vehicle that is capable of both ground and air travel.

Unveiled this week at the third annual Chinese National Helicopter Exposition, the Sailing is made by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China. Taken from the two Chinese characters for “excel” and “antelope”(赛羚 sàilíng), the vehicle has six propelor blades that can extend and retract from the car, allowing the vehicle to take to the air whenever necessary. The People’s Daily Online reports that the Sailing can “land and take off vertically” and is “capable of hovering, flying forward and yawing.”

There are already big plans for the Sailing. China helicopter aviation deputy general manager and director of the China helicopter aviation design and research center Hong Jiao says that the Sailing represents the future of aviation in China. Hong envisions the Sailing being used by the military, and also says that it is sure to have a civilian use as well.

At present, air space in China is tightly regulated and fully controlled by the country’s military. During the run-up to the September 3 military parade, the use of air space by civilians was either highly restricted or banned, as was the use of radio waves and the purchase of aircraft.

While we’re all looking forward to seeing more of this flying car, previous unveilings of similar vehicles in China have led to wide-spread confusion.

In 2011, Volkswagon China released a video featuring a hovering car that caused some people in the West to erroneously believe that China was mass producing a “flying car”. However, what people failed to realize is that the video was part of Volkswagon’s “People’s Car Project” in which contestants from around China were asked to submit designs for a futuristic concept car.

As seen in a second video, the first video was part of a massive ruse played upon the winner of the contest. As part of her reward for submitting the winning entry, the winner got to see her concept come to life as realized through special effects.

The post Take the George Jetson Way to Work with this Chinese-Made Flying Car appeared first on The Nanfang.

An increasing number of Chinese people are flocking to Jeju Island in South Korea to take a driving test that they say is cheaper, easier, and quicker to take than it is back home.

Compared to a normal driving test that can cost an average RMB 3,700 to RMB 4,300 in China, or up to RMB 5,000 in big cities like Beijing, the South Korean driving test only costs half as much. Furthermore, only 13 hours of training is required for the test, involving just six hours of instruction. By comparison, the procedure for getting a driver’s license in China can last up to a year.

In fact, some Chinese tourists who took the driving test say it is so easy that you “can pass the test with your eyes closed”.

Having come to Jeju Island specifically for the driving test, 32 year-old Miss Liu said a written test performed back in China is all that is required to make the results of the South Korean test valid towards an official Chinese driver’s license.

Wang Yingfang, 46, echoed this sentiment, saying, “It is easy to get a driver’s license in South Korea. Although I feel nervous, it is fast and easy to convert into a Chinese one.”

Official statistics show the number of Chinese taking the South Korean driving test ballooned to 991 last year, compared to only 68 in 2010. As of May this year, 1,093 foreigners have taken the test, of which 90 percent are Chinese.

But that may just be the tip of the iceberg. China Daily reports that 70,000 Chinese people have become holders of South Korean driver’s licenses over the past three years.70,000 Chinese people have become holders of South Korean driver’s licenses over the past three years.

The trend has long been noticed on both sides of the border. South Korean driving schools are reported to have begun hiring Chinese-speaking instructors, while monitors provide Chinese translations for students from China.

Meanwhile, Chinese travel agencies are promoting tours to South Korea that package a driving test along with sight-seeing local tourist hotspots. One advertisement that has been attracting attention online tells the following:

Zero knowledge required, zero pressure, three-day study period and test. Chinese-language examination paper, results available the next day. 98% passing rate.

As much as this trend continues to grow, South Korea remains a very popular destination for plastic surgery in China, attracting 5.6 million Chinese clients last year.

The post South Korea Drawing Scores of Chinese for Cheap, Easy Driver’s Licenses appeared first on The Nanfang.

San Francisco ride-sharing startup Uber has come under fire in China after two of its offices were raided by police. Officials marched into Uber’s offices in Chengdu just days after doing the same in Guangzhou, claiming they were looking to “get information” but not punish the company.

Photographs from Chengdu show what appears to be Uber personnel surrounding uniformed officials, pointing fingers and taking pictures on their phones.

On April 30, authorities from the Guangzhou municipal industry and commerce bureau, the transport commission and the local police raided Uber’s Guangzhou branch, seizing thousands of mobile phones and other equipment. The provincial transport commission said it suspected Uber was operating a taxi service without a proper business license and could face a fine of RMB 30,000 ($4,800).

In January, apps allowing drivers of private cars to offer their services were banned by the Chinese government. Chinese taxi drivers have been known to air their grievances against car-sharing companies, who they say should be regulated.

Uber has been growing quickly in China, and already operates in nine Chinese cities including Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen. It faces heavy competition from Chinese-made apps, however. Most estimates put Uber’s share of the Chinese market at just 1 percent.

Here are more photographs of the invasion in Chengdu:

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China is home to more than 20 of the most congested cities for traffic in the world, and five are ranked among the world’s top 20, according to a report by TomTom, a dutch company specialising in car navigation services.

China’s most congested cities are its first-tier ones, with Chongqing taking top spot in China and 12th internationally, followed by Tianjin, Beijing and Guangzhou. Chengdu rounded out the top five Chinese cities, coming ahead of Shanghai as well as making it one of the top 20 most congested cities in the world at no. 19.

A number of cities in the Pearl River Delta made it onto the list. In addition to Guangzhou are Shenzhen as China’s 11th most congested city, Zhuhai in 12th place and Dongguan at 21. Another group to note are the Chinese cities that will make up the future Beijing supercity of Tianjin, Beijing and Shijiazhuang, Hebei at the number seven spot.

Taipei also made it onto the list as the 11th most traffic congested city in the world.

TomTom compiled the data by comparing travel times during peak periods against non-congested travel times, and expressing the result as a percentage. Chongqing has a congestion level of 38 percent in which an ordinary commute that takes 30 minutes in unobstructed traffic is delayed by 27 minutes during rush hour.

As bad as traffic conditions appear in Chongqing, car travel in Beijing may actually be worse. While Beijing has a 37 percent congestion level with a delay of 24 minutes for every 30 minute commute, it has more roads than Chongqing that still get clogged up. Though they are both large first-tier cities, Chongqing’s road network is only 5,575 kilometers long, of which 196 kilometers are highways. By comparison, Beijing has a road network of 20,834 kilometers in which 1,177 kilometers are highways.

Here is the list of China’s most congested cities for traffic, followed by their international ranking:

1. Chongqing; 12th
2. Tianjin; 14th
3. Beijing; 15th
4. Guangzhou, Guangdong; 17th
5. Chengdu, Sichuan; 19th
6. Shanghai; 24
7. Shijiazhuang, Hebei; 25th
8. Fuzhou, Fujian; 28th
9. Shenyang, Liaoning; 29th
10. Hangzhou, Zhejiang; 30th
11. Shenzhen, Guangdong; 31st
12. Zhuhai, Guangdong; 33rd
13. Changchun, Jilin; 35th
14. Changsha, Hunan 39th
15. Nanjing, Jiangsu; 42nd
16. Quanzhou, Fujian; 49th
17. Ningbo, Zhejiang; 52nd
18. Wuhan, Hubei; 54th
19. Xiamen, Fujian; 80th
20. Suzhou, Jiangsu; 82nd
21. Dongguan, Guangdong; 83rd
22. Wuxi, Jiangsu; 105th

Istanbul, Mexico City, and and Rio de Janeiro are the three most congested cities in the world.

The post China Has the Worst Traffic in the World appeared first on The Nanfang.

A knife attacker has been detained by police after holding three women hostage at Anhui Technical University.

The incident happened at around 9 this morning (April 14) in Ma’anshan, Anhui. A man wielding a knife started to slash cars and people on the school’s east campus. When an attempt to rob a barber shop proved to be unsuccessful, the attacker entered a student dormitory where he held three female students hostage.

Police say the suspect is a third-year engineering student. It’s not clear how many people he hurt, or what his motivation was for the attack. It’s suspected he was suffering from a mental illness.

The post 3 Women Held Hostage by Knife Attacker at Anhui University appeared first on The Nanfang.

While this may seem innocent enough, the ramifications have proven to be quite serious. As embarrassing as it is to lose a car and driver, discovering that you don’t actually know how to drive is an even greater loss of face.

Xinhua reports that a number of officials, now forced to drive for themselves, are exceptionally poor drivers. Required to get a certified driver’s license, it turns out that many officials over the age of 50 have struggled to pass their driving exams.

A 52 year-old official, surnamed Zhang, said she has failed her driving test ten times in a row despite changing instructors three times. Zhang said, “Failing my driving test has made me increasingly irritable.”

The officials complain that requirements for China’s driving tests are too strict, and that the licensing fee is too high. In fairness to the officials, a driving license course in China can take as many as 78 hours to complete and comes with a fee of approximately US $1,500.

Whether Zhang has since passed her exam remains unknown.

The post Chinese Officials Flunk Driver’s Exam After Losing Their Chauffeurs appeared first on The Nanfang.

According to the Beijing Municipal Severe Air Pollution Emergency Contingency Plan, the new alert system will be split into four levels of increasing danger, accompanied by a corresponding color: severe pollution lasting 24 hours will be blue, 48 hours will be yellow, and 72 hours will be orange. If there is severe pollution lasting beyond 72 hours, a red alert will be issued.

Initiating a red smog alert in Beijing will permit temporary restrictions on vehicle use in the city. Half of all Beijing fossil fuel-burning cars will be prohibited from driving during a red alert, depending on whether their license plates end with an odd or even number. All large-scale trucks hauling garbage, concrete, earth and the like will also not be allowed to operate.

The other major impact of initiating a red alert is the closure of all kindergartens, middle and elementary schools in the city.

There is one condition to these new protocols, however, that take the urgency out of an emergency warning system: all red and orange alerts must be made known to the public 24 hours prior to initiating them.

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