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*honk* *honk* *honk* I hear this sound outside my apartment every day. Starting at 5 in the morning and it can last until 10 in the evening. Chinese traffic is noisy, not just with the sound of engines, but also with the sound of honking. It seems that Chinese people will honk whenever they can. In fact, I almost think some people have one hand on the wheel and their other hand on the car horn. People here are not afraid to honk. It seems like they honk just to honk. Passing by a light? Honk. I’m going to pass a car? Honk. I’m going to drive on the wrong side of the road and try to hit the foreigner on the bike? Honk. I get into the car? Honk. My wife just gave birth to her baby but I missed it because my boss made me work late tonight and now I’m stuck in traffic and because of that I missed it and now my wife is mad at me and considering divorce? Honk.

In the US, at least in most cities, people try not to honk. We are usually told stories about “road rage”. Road rage is when someone gets really angry while driving and acts out, sometimes in violence. During driving school, they taught us to be careful when honking, because some people happen to have guns in their car and could shoot you because you honked. You only honk when you need to, but usually people honk when they are angry, or saying hello.

Saying this though, some of the bigger cities have honking problems. But the cities are also trying to get people to stop honking so much. "Honk for emergencies" they say. Is it working? I don't know for sure, but hopefully it is! I just can't stand honking.

What do you think? Do you think people honk too much? Do you think people honk too little? Let me know!