How to Ride a Bus in China

Even after boarding Indonesian ferries, riding rural Cambodian buses and squeezing onto the London Tube during the Christmas Eve shopping frenzy, taking the bus in China has redefined my notion of personal space. Here’s how to get on, get where you’re going and keep your sanity.

1: Know Which Compass Point You Are Headed To

In China, roads are handily signposted (in both Chinese and English), complete with their compass directions, but bus timetables are written in Chinese.

Chinese streets are LONG. The easiest way to establish whether a bus stop will lead the right way up your destination road is to know the five Chinese points of the compass: bei (north – say “bay”), nan (south), zhong (middle – say “djonnng”), dong (east) and xi (west – say “shee”). People will tell you bus numbers by holding up fingers.

2: Identify Which Part of the Stop Your Bus Will Stop At

Urban Chinese bus stops have space for five or so buses at a time. Given that buses are packed beyond capacity for roughly six hours out of every day, you’ll need to position yourself near to where the front of your bus will roll up to have a chance of getting on.

Keep an eye out for your bus as it sits in traffic or approaches from a distance. Work out where it will be positioned at the stop when it arrives and join the surge of humanity barging to that point. If you failed to get on the last bus or two, watch the people who were in front of you and follow them up and down the bus stop. You will get on eventually.

3: Carry the Right Change in Your Hand

Chinese bus drivers do not give change and it is normally difficult, if not impossible, to gain enough personal space to get your hand into your bag, extract your wallet and find money before the crowd pushes you past the metal box where you drop your fare. Ball up the right change for your fare in your hand before you attempt to board. Also be aware that pickpocketing can be a problem.

4: Be Prepared to Push

China’s cities are crowded and getting more so. When it comes to public transport, there is no such thing as a queue, more a multi-directional scrum. When the bus arrives, push vigorously towards it from your current location and carry on pushing until you are on the bus. This huddle is a good-humoured but vigorous process: do not lose your temper. If you object to bad breath, do as some Chinese do and wear a surgical mask. If you’re over 5’9″ be prepared to stoop on some buses.

5: When the Doors Are Closing, Shrink

The driver will close the doors when it is physically impossible for
any of the heaving, surging mass pushing from behind and both sides to compress the people inside the bus enough to step up onto the bus. If you are last on, to avoid being trapped by the closing doors, edge into the centre of the space in front of them and shrink your body and possessions inwards so the doors can squeeze past you. Travelling with kids? Carry little ones and push bigger ones ahead of you with your arms on either side. And hold on tight. Rides can be bumpy.

6: Be Prepared to Give Up Your Seat

Although no quarter is given to either the elderly or children when it comes to getting ON the bus, traditional Chinese respect for the old and the broad adoration of children produced by the one-child policy kicks in as soon as all are aboard. Should you manage to secure a seat, you should offer it to any elderly person or a woman with a child. Do not be surprised to see a mother put a tiny child on the seat and then continue to stand herself.

7: Start Barging BEFORE the Bus Reaches Your Stop

You get off Chinese buses at the back, not the front, a process that, like much else in Chinese public transportation, requires pushing lots and lots of people out of your way. Start barging towards the back doors before the bus stops and continue to barge vigorously until you are off. If travelling with children, push them in front of you and physically block the doors from closing until everyone’s off. Should the doors close, bang and yell until the driver opens them. Don’t bother with “excuse me” in any language. No one else does.

8: Or… Take A Taxi

Chinese taxis are metered and relatively affordable. Generally speaking, they are most easily hailed with a vigorous wave while standing in the outside lane of the road, or simply edging up to them in gridlock.

Unless you speak the language (we’re learning Chinese at the moment), bring your destination’s name and address with you, written in Chinese script as well as pinyin, and, ideally, the phone number too.

Good guidebooks have addresses in Chinese script, while tourist businesses give out bilingual cards. If you don’t have a smartphone, a guidebook or a card, use Skype to text the address to your phone.