The 'little victories' mentioned by Yuantongsi really are fun and by observation you learn the myriad of ways to score. I particularly like the Beichen crossing near Metro in the north. All you have to do is learn the sequence of lights and you can be in the middle of the pedestrian crossing on your green light with a crowd of pedestrians behind you and thus the traffic is forced to slow - 10 points, a big grin and life is great. A driver lent on his horn as I was crossing the entrance to a gated community in the same district, I slowed, he got madder, I put down my bag and tied my shoelaces - he gave up and I gave myself 50 points....... for not getting beaten up. Even better is to do what I've noticed more young people do and that is just ignore the driver; don't even afford them a glance. As for being late, well that's just selfish and rude and in that sense I know how you feel. You'll soon be able to calculate how much longer things take and you'll be back on track in no time. Call and let others know you are on the way and they will do the same in return when they're inevitably held up. It's never going to change. Start accumulating points today! Am I crazy? Of course - who isn't?

@Daithi
It works like a charm. As soon as you think of rude behaviour as just going against a suggestion rather than some hard and true road law, you feel a 1000 times lighter, like some huge weight/pressure just suddenly vanished. So that 'One Way' sign is just a suggestion. Same, that road division for cars and bikes, just mere suggestions. See, you feel better already.

@KMdragon
In your case, letting off steam in a forum is good, and remember, pedestrian crossings are just suggestions; cars may or may not slow down. Red light, again, just a suggestion, not some kind of law or something.

Well, I don't know where I would start to describe the traffic rule madness here, but I totally feel your feels, OP. Every time I rode my e-scooter with my girlfriend, and screamed at someone who broke traffic rules on our path, she surprisingly got mad at me. What piss me off the most are vehicles turning right at any crossroad or exit without looking left or first giving priority, people riding scooters or bikes in the opposite lane, and pedestrians strolling along the bike lane completely oblivious to the vehicles behind them and the fact that there's a huge newly beautified side-walk right next to them. I'm not sure what's the exact reason why my girlfriend got mad at me while I was trying to explain that they were breaking the law, but it did seem to work for not wasting time with the law breakers or getting into a fight with them (they somehow never understand that they were breaking the law). One person is not going to be able to educate 6-7 million people about traffic laws on his/her own. Plus I try to remind myself that many car owners got their license through red envelopes, scooter riders don't need a test, and many pedestrians come from villages where there might not be as much traffic.

These days, I try as much as possible to avoid screaming at people who break traffic laws on my path when my girlfriend is here, or try to avoid putting her in danger by following traffic laws or taking priority on the road. When I'm riding alone though, I still shout at law breakers from time to time though. It helps blow off some steam on the spot, forget about it and get along with my ride.

When you get frustrated and need to let off steam just come to these forums and write about anything you like. Then you can have a virtual battle with complete strangers - Hehe!

Another thing is that many e-bikes or cars don't turn on their lights!!!! They want to save money.

@kmdragon:...and after awhile you'll get over the need to play games for little victories and to let off steam too. It's a bit ridiculous to imagine daily life as some kind of competition between yourself & perhaps other foreigners on one side, and 'the Chinese' on the other.

My first rule of traffic safety here is "look both ways when crossing a one way street".
The other day going to the airport I even saw (again) cars and trucks driving the wrong way on a traffic circle to save a few meters getting to the road they wanted.
Meanwhile in both Chengdu and Shenzhen I've seen actual stop signs. I think the Chinese letters must say something like "Stop if you want to" because nobody stops for them.

@Alien This is NOT repeat NOT about foreigners v Chinese. So let's not go down that route. As it happens the biggest idiot I've seen driving an SUV in Kunming was a pinky skinned foreigner.

there are bad drivers and a-hole drivers everywhere. but the driving culture here is "get out of my f**ing way or i'll run you over".

and it's stupid and needs to change. who decided that someone who is walking or cycling is a 2nd class citizen?