a chinese xmas, crossing roads and puppies in a basket

It's been a forgetful xmas this year since i've been struck down with the flu. Spent most of the day moping around the house drinking water or sleeping. Its a real shame too cuz i wanted to get out and see how the locals celebrate. From what i've heard, many of the chinese seem to treat xmas eve like it's new years eve, gathering in the streets in big crowds dressed up in masks and setting off their own fireworks/crackers. since i was too sick to go out and see take my own pics i've cheated and found a link to some newspaper's pic
http://www.xbfzw.com/news/shiping/2008/1225/081225124691277CC7DGIGDF49FB17H.html

Crossing roads is quite a harrowing experience here in china. I absolutely shit myself every time i have to cross one. They have zebra crossings here, but they don't mean nothing.
In order not to wait a lifetime you have to cross each lane as they free up, so usually paedestrians are standing in btw various lanes in the middle of the road. the problem is car lane lines don't mean anything either, so you hope cars can see and drive around you( So it's advisable to wear bright c0lours at nite). Luckily though, most vehicles slow down at turns, and it's almost like a game of chicken to see who flinches first. Though where usually back in aus it's between 2 cars, this time it's between car and paedestrian! And driver's don't give paedestrians wide berth either. you can actually feel the heat radiating from cars and buses as they slice past your face. Add to this the unpredictability of china drivers and you've got u'rself quite a heart-stopping adventure everyday. i use to be chicken when it came to crossing rds - oldies would cross while i'd be waiting another 5 minutes for clear space. but now i'm a lot better at eyeballing cars and inching across lanes.
since motorbikes and bikes are alot more common here, alot of them drive on the footpaths as well as the rds. and sometimes you even get cars driving on footpaths! (our bus driver decided to take a shortcut on one occasion - see pic)
So even when you're walking along footpaths you still have to be fully alert for things that can mangle you.

On a brief note, if you ever want to buy a puppie you can always get one from these street vendors who sells em out of a basket. they probably are for keeping as pets though, since eating dog meat in this part of the country isn't common!