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Traffic in Beijing - Source: ONE News -
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Beijing has gone car crazy.
Until just a few years ago the only cars on the famous streets were taxis and those owned by government officials, as bicycles dominated.
But now, mainly thanks to the burgeoning middle class, private ownership of vehicles is going through the roof.
In a single week of October there were a record 10,000 new cars registered in Beijing, as demand seems insatiable.
Being an imperial city with traditionally wide roads the capital has coped ok - much better than Shanghai, for example - but now the situation has reached a tipping point.
But you can't accuse the city government of sitting on their hands in an attempt to find a solution.
During one day of every week the locals are simply not allowed to use their cars.
It is a simple but effective method, as each day two numbers between 0-9 are presented and if either of these correspond to the last digit on your number plate then that day your wheels will stay in the garage.
Of course there are always ways around every rule and accusations have flown that a lot of the well-heeled folk have just bought a second (or third) car and that way avoid the restrictions.
Public transport is also very high on the agenda.
There are currently 228km of Beijing subway, a lot of which has been completed in just the last five or six years, that carry 5 million passengers a day.
By the end of 2010 there will be an additional 72km and in six years' time the target is that subway will have 561km of track and be able to take up to 10 million people off the streets.
It is also the cheapest in the world (at 2 RMB - $0.40) for a single trip anywhere.
Bus expressways are also being constructed at a frightening rate and the ticket price of 0.60RMB (that's 12 cents) also provide a great incentive to leave the car in the hutong.
Considering it usually takes Auckland a couple of years to approve a roundabout - and our idea of public transport is car pooling - could we borrow some of the Beijing town planners for a while?
Click here to read more of Michael's tales from China .
tvnz.co.nz's Michael Burgess is in China courtesy of the Asia New Zealand foundation and travelled there with Air New Zealand. He is aiming to investigate the impact and legacy of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and will be writing about the sights and sounds of China along the way.
