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Posts: 144

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Q: Taking the bus - only for poor people?

This is somewhat of a stigma in most places, but how prevalent is this here? The belief that taking the bus is for "poor people"?

 

Does everyone naturally assume they'll end up getting a car one day? There's a lot of downsides to having a car imo. It's an asset, yeah, and a sign of wealth (depends on the car), but it's just as much a liability, especially in China, I would think, with transportation and fuel costs being what they are...

11 years 42 weeks ago in  Transport & Travel - China

 
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Shifu

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No it's for people who care about the environment. I'm sure you've seen those carpooling videos about taking public transportation and taking one car with four people instead of four cars with one person in each. If anything taking the bus, subway etc., is helping the environment believe it or not and it's making the land richer since reducing pollution does make for better living!

pbrown22:

Why the 7 thumbs down for this answer?

11 years 14 weeks ago
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11 years 42 weeks ago
 
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Lets put it this way: if a Chinese person can afford a car, they will buy one, and usually the most expensive one they can afford.  Sometimes they'll buy one even if they can't afford it (meaning paying for gas, maintenance, insurance, etc).

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11 years 42 weeks ago
 
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It's all about being able to show off.  So show off you have that money to spend on a car, or at least have that extra money that you can take a taxi everywhere.... instead of waiting for the bus like all the "rest" of the people.

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11 years 42 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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Some of my colleagues here in China a amazed that my former boss and Senior Executive of Accenture caught the bus to work everyday. His reasoning cheaper, cleaner, and faster way to getting to work (in Brisbane they have dedicated bus lanes and roads for buses which bypass all the gridlock). Would love to see a SE or CEO of a Chinese company take public transport here.

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11 years 42 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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Hate the bussad

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11 years 42 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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Catch the bus all the time in Shenyang. First option is to walk, then the metro and if either of those is unsuitable I get the bus. Sure it's crowded at times but no big issue as far as I am concerned. 

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11 years 42 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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Use the bus system all the time. Can't say it's my favourite daily experience. Just couldn't justify having a car though. For one thing there are never any bloody parking spaces available.

GuilinRaf:

Same here. And taxis are just so freakin' expenssive.....

11 years 42 weeks ago
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dandmcd:

Precisely why I don't think I ever want to drive in the cities, I have no idea how people find a parking spot, and it looks like too much stress for me on some roads trying to avoid people, motor bikes, crazy bus drivers, and taxis.  Now that I live in GZ, the metro seems far more convenient than any other transportation, so I use it nearly all the time, since the bus system is slow and unreliable in the district I live.

11 years 42 weeks ago
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11 years 42 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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I JUST COULDNT TAKE IT ANYMORE SO I FINALLY JUST BOUGHT A CAR AND IT WAYS EXACTLY DOUBLE WHAT I WOULD HAVE PAID FOR IT IN THE US  BUYING A USED CAR HERE ISNT PRACTICAL I WAS TOLD THE MILAGE WOULD BE ROLLED BACK AND IT COULD BE PUT TOGETHER WITH 4 DIFFERNT CARS THAT WERE SALVAGED

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11 years 42 weeks ago
 
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Best 20 cent Roller coaster I've ever been onwink

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11 years 42 weeks ago
 
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only for mad people!!... bus drivers are the craziest most incompetent drivers on the road I have ever seen in china.  I mean, most drivers are bad here but these guys take the cake, especially shocking is their behavior and maneuvers considering they have lots of lives in their hands! I will never take the bus

cooter:

I would say this is true for inter-city and long distance bus drivers.  Only concerned about reaching the destination as quickly as possible.  Guessing that has something to do with how they're paid?  But I found the bus drivers that do the local routes to be pretty docile and dare I say, almost polite, relatively speaking anyways.

11 years 42 weeks ago
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11 years 42 weeks ago
 
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I would never take a bus in China unless it was a life and death situation. After all the stories and from what I have seen...I feel very sorry for people that have to do this everyday.

In Canada people often will take a bus for convenience or to be environmentally friendly or if they go out drinking...In China people take the bus because they have no other choice I think.

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11 years 42 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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It's not that bad...but I have screamed at bus drivers before...haha, they are a-holes sad

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11 years 42 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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I'd prefer a car in my own country, but in China the bus is so convenient and sometimes better than a car.

 

Don't have to worry about parking, car maintenance, fuel etc.

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11 years 42 weeks ago
 
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I prefer the bus over taxis. Drivers of busses and taxis are both nuts. I prefer to be in the bigger vehicle. Looking at the other people in the bus, it looks mostly to be those who cannot afford a car. Most of my neighbors have several cars and I doubt they even know where the busstop is. 

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11 years 14 weeks ago
 
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I lived downtown and often took the bus. It's cheap and runs regularly. I never had to wait long for a bus. When I live in Toronto the buses ran so bad that you might wait an hour for a bus that should run every 20 min., then 3 would come. I could walk 10 miles, and often did, before a bus would come in an hour.

TedDBayer:

but Chinese some buses ride like they have broken suspensions. I took a small bus out to the country, on a smooth highway , the ride was so bad that I couldn't text.

11 years 14 weeks ago
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11 years 14 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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Before I purchased my car about 6 months ago I ALWAYS took the bus. Taxi's were used if I was tired or did a big shop etc but I don't think the buses are for poor people. In Dongguan they are used by many people and a lot of them look pretty well off.

 

Of course you would buy a car if you could afford one but with salaries around 4-5k per month you need a pretty high deposit otherwise you are going to be paying 2-3k per month for a car loan (that's what I pay anyway).

 

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I take the bus often but during my first 5 years in China I would never get on one. Since I moved cities almost two years ago I decided to give it a try. However, I absolutely refuse to get on a crowded bus. I'll  wait for the next one or get a cab. I have my limits.

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11 years 14 weeks ago
 
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I love the bus. Cheap and they run consistently here.

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In the city where I live, two years the august city fathers decided that they had enough of the old, dirty, smoke-belching buses that used to pass for public transport around here.  They replaced all of these with some very beautiful double-decker buses for the lines that run to the ocean and with other GM type buses.  So the entire decrepit fleet of buses went somewhere else (I heard South Africa maybe) and an entire new fleet was rolled out.  A ride is only 1 RMB and the service is frequent and great.  All that being said, I have yet to get on a bus in all of the years that I have lived here -- no that's a small lie, I got on a bus one time.

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11 years 14 weeks ago
 
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nope.its not for poor people.i'm not poor but i still take the bus Tongue. When i think of taking a taxi lets say from Dongzhimen to wudakou its like 50 kuai to get there, i'm like damn thats a waste of money. So how about i take a bus and use that 48 kuai for something else. good thinking huh?no? Its all about budget i guess.
  
 

 

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