Signs - Part II "Organized Caos"
Dear citizens of the world, My second blog post continues along the same topic of signs in China. This sign which can be found at the entrance to Tian'anmen square in Beijing has no translation problems. The problem is cultural. The same as Chris's last post , this sign clearly prohibits exploding vehicles...but it also has many other regulations: When cycling towards the "Peaceful Heavenly Gate" square I decided to stop to read the sign and make sure I was not breaking any laws that would get me thrown into the Beijing slammer. The square is surrounded by hundreds or thousands of uniformed police, military, plain-clothed police, video cameras, communist lasers of death, etc... The sign prohibited buses, but there were many buses full of locals and tourists alike. The sign prohibited bikes pulling large amounts of cargo, but lots of them rode by as I was decifering the sign. In the end, I decided to push ahead, sure that I was not breaking any rules and that many othe...