Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

There's all manner of vehicles on the road in Xuzhou.  It's quite rare to see a traditional pedal bicycle, and the norm to see swarms of electric scooters and larger motorcycles zoom up the bicycle lanes.  Often the electric scooters have coverings and are equipped with a back seat but look extremely fragile.  Others have trailers hooked up to them or look kind of like tractors.  Every now and then I'll see a person in a motorised wheelchair going up the bike lane.  I guess they don't have a choice given the state of or perhaps lack of footpaths in many places.  Some of these wheelchairs are quite dated whereas others look like something Inspector Gadget would be quite proud of.  Still, I do find it quite odd seeing wheelchairs slowly maneouvering along in the middle of the road.  I half expect Benny Hill to leap out of one getting chased by a scantily clad lady...

The Driverless Delivery Truck

Recently, I was out on a walk in the early evening.  I was waiting to cross the main road when all of a sudden I heard a loud repetitive noise from a a vehicle that it was reversing.  I looked around and saw this box on wheels.  It was a medium-sized box and then I realised there were no windows, and no driver - it was simply a box on wheels, waiting to turn.  I stood in awe as it turned into the main road and went on its merry way.  This in fact was the first time I'd encountered a driverless delivery truck.  The devious side of me immediately began to think how to trick it, but then again I'm sure it would be armed with high-powered cameras recording everything all around. It turns out there's another driverless delivery truck making a cameo in the second video below at the 21second mark!

Toy Cars

Most cars tend to be electric and a lot of them are great big SUV beasts with glaring headlights that amount to a horizontal beam covering the width of the front of the car.  On the flipside, there's an abundance of miniature cars that aren't much bigger than the coin-operated toy cars one sees in shopping centres back home.  I often see them parked outside and wonder how on earth anyone could fit inside.  There are curvy ones, square ones, rectangular ones - all look like they belong in a cartoon, yet none of them seem particularly safe!  From my apartment window, I took a few videos of the trafiic driving past and can definitely spot these tiny vehicles!  I would like to own one and decorate it with Viking horns perhaps or some kind of predator vehicle, with loud speakers, and turn up to work.  There's a thought...!