Finally, a real Beijing bus driver

BEIJING — In the months leading up to this trip to China for the Olympics, I read a lot of articles and talked to a lot of people who tried to scare me about taking public transportation or taxis in Beijing.

The drivers are crazy, like New York cabbie crazy times ten, they explained.

They lay on the horn the entire time they're driving, they said.

You're lucky when you arrive anywhere in one piece, they warned.

I came to Beijing expecting to die spectacularly in some 10-car pileup caused by one of these maniacs.

Heck no. With only half the usual number of cars on the road, and the Chinese on their best behavior for the games, drivers are downright sedate.

Until today.

Oh yeah. Check out my boy to the right. That's a real Beijinger.

Going from the Main Press Center to the basketball arena takes about 35 minutes. He did it in 30.

This man honked the horn at every pedestrian within 30 yards and came within 3-4 feet of taking out three volunteers crossing the street in front of the baseball stadium.

And he took one dirty, 90-degree, left turn under a freeway overpass at about 45 miles per hour, just like Sandra Bullock in Speed, clearing the concrete supports by less than 5 feet. I even craned my neck to see if he had his foot up on the wheel to brace himself against the momentum.

Wheeeeeeee!!!! Finally — E-ticket fun in Beijing!

I was so happy for the experience, I got up and forced him to take a picture with the shuttle escort so I could give him some love on this blog.

Thank you, sir. You lived up to the hype!