When our plane landed late at night at the Beijing airport I had no idea what to expect. Because I, naively, wanted to experience China unencumbered by things like language skills, an understanding of socio-economics, political dynamics, or cultural awareness, I was totally unprepared for my first forey into the streets of Beijing... by cab. When our driver honked his horn and buzzed around a slightly slower car in front of him using the median as a lane I was concerned. Two minutes later when he ventured between lanes of traffic and nearly slammed into the box shaped car next to him, I thought, "so this is the way I'm going to die." As it turns out, he was simply trying to avoid using his breaks. Why? Because each time he breaked it cost him half a yuan in gas consumption. With rising gas prices and competition from other cab drivers immigrating from rural China, he could barely make a living as a driver and every cent counted.
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