[Gllug] [OT] Technobabble

[Nix]

On Tue, 22 Nov 2005, John Hearns yowled:
> On Mon, 2005-11-21 at 23:42 +0000, Nix wrote:
>> China used to be the bicycling capital of the world. It still is, but
>> everyone's buying cars. This is not because of the nasty Chinese
>> government, but simply because people can afford them now.
>> 
> Gasp. Chokes on coffee.
> Cue Thatcherite "If I see a man over 30 on a bus I see a failure".

Er, no. It's more a statement of fact. The Chinese government is not
forcing anyone to buy cars!

> I ought to Google, as I dimly remember reading some statement to the
> effect that the Chinese goverment want to get all of these pesky bikes
> off the road in order to let cars have room, as this is 'progress'.

This is true in some cities (notably Beijing) particularly if they
expect foreign dignitaries who they want to impress, but not in most.

-- 
`Y'know, London's nice at this time of year. If you like your cities
 freezing cold and full of surly gits.' --- David Damerell

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