Beijing Wants You to Learn These Hand Signals!

Ask any Beijinger what their biggest complaint about the city is, and they'll probably tell you its how dysfunctional the traffic is. Beijing has recently taken a series of measures – from fining drivers who fail to yeild to passengers to asking people to film violators – to improve the safety for pedestrians. The city has even come up with a series of hand signals that pedestrians and drivers can use to make it easier at intersections with crossings. What are these gestures, exactly? Here are three signals Beijing wants you to put to use.

Who goes first?

When to use it: This signal is applicable for situations when drivers and pedestrians are unsure about who should pass first on crosswalks without any accompanying traffic lights.

I’m not going!

When to use it: Finally, if a driver has already stopped for you, but you have no intention of crossing before they go, make sure to use this signal.

Images: Courtesy of Irene Li, Kris Wei (Via UNSPLASH)