When I first started traveling in China eleven years ago, the thing I loved the most about local buses was that you could flag them down almost anywhere and no matter how crowded, the driver would squeeze you in. Unfortunately, there is a new law that mandates all passengers have a seat which cuts down on the fun considerably, although luggage is still crammed in with wild abandon. Chinese bus drivers differ from their Western counterparts in other aspects, as well, frequently driving in the wrong lane (especially around corners), honking constantly at slower moving traffic, often turning their headlights off at night to conserve the battery, and frequently stopping for long intervals when prospective passengers by the side of the road decide to bargain over the fare before stepping in. One of the most interesting features of these buses, which took me a long time to figure out, is quoted below:
Territories: Chinese buses all have their own territories. If you are standing by the road in one of the numerous local towns that line the highways and wave down a passing long-distance bus, it will not stop because that would impinge on the territory of the local bus. If you walk a half mile and get outside the town limits, that same bus will stop for you. Once when I was riding on the long-distance bus between Puan and Langzhong, our bus driver stopped illegally in the town of Longyuan to pick up a man. A little further on he stopped again to pick up a woman. Before she could climb the steps of the bus, however, the driver abruptly changed his mind and slammed the door in her face, almost knocking her down in the process. A second or two later we stopped at a red light, and a man suddenly appeared in front of the bus, blocking it while he pounded on the front windshield, yelling at the driver all the while. I thought it was the lady’s husband furious at the jolting she got when he slammed the door. It turned out, instead, to be the driver of the local bus, furious at the driver trying to impinge on his territory. He kept pounding until finally the man who had been picked up first got up and got off the bus. Then, having reclaimed his stolen passenger, the other driver disappeared into the crowd which had gathered to watch the fun.
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