Lao wai is colloquial mandarin for "foreigner" and Shanghai has a huge number of them. One of the biggest populations of western expatriates in the world, I've read. And there are scores of these wayfarer-clad white bandits riding around on motorbikes and regular bikes without helmets! A bit like Kuta beach in Bali or Patong on Phuket, but somehow hipper and classier. It seems that all the road safety education that was drummed into my generation of school kid is forgotten as they zip through the crazy traffic without any thought of consequences. This photo seems to epitomise it: twenty something guy texting away on iPhone, listening to music abreast the latest Chinese knockoff copy euro scooter. I see *stupid* guys like this all the time. (Maybe I'm a touch envious as I schlep a very heavy-laden Phil n Ted's stroller up gutters and down stairs).
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