I had an observation the last couple times I was in Beijing about traffic. Where I live, traffic, even when congested, is still relatively orderly. For the most part, people stay in lanes. But in China, traffic flows like those images you see of capillaries and veins...everything is going the same direction, but all jumbled, no queueing, no patience really. Cab drivers practice a kind of martial art. It's the same way you get on the subways. Even if you line up, when the door opens, everyone just bumbles in and out like those corpuscles. This image from Beijing 2007 seems pretty orderly, but I remember riding bicycles and seeing horse-drawn carts on these same roads.
I was thinking about this because my doctor just told me my cholesterol is a bit high, my blood pressure a bit high, so I need diet and exercise. (So what else is new...all the other tests, ultrasounds and colonoscopies and liver scans are fine.) It's just traffic. (Isn't it interesting that the French word for traffic is "la circulation"?) And when congested, another word for stress. I was doing much better in Wudang, patiently climbing stairs, eating tofu and practicing qigong and meditation.
3 comments:
I would definitely be homicidal in that traffic. Moving back from Boston (years ago), I was amazed at how hostile I was, in general. It's nice to not get my panties in a bunch... well; I guess I still do, just not as much as when I was there!
You need to take care of yourself!!
Thanks for the observation. Yes, I do need to take care of myself. It's work-related stress so you know what that means. The numbers aren't all that high, no meds required, but still. I've got three months to get myself in order. I wish I was planning another trip!
Once on the road in China, our bus and something like a Lexus driven by a Little Emperor really did have a martial arts-ish duel. Unbelievable things happened on those highways. When was the last time you saw a bus BACK UP on a busy 4-lane route because he missed a turn?
When you wrote about riding a bike on that clogged road in China, I thought back to friends of ours who lived there then. When Sean left China he freaked out at 50 mph traffic here. His bp also shot up.
Know what you mean about work-related stress *sigh*. Happy you don't need meds and others tests are fine...also happy you nipped this in the bud. But take care of yourself.
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