Chinese Jugaad : Traffic Stand-Ins.

The more I read about China, the more fascinating it gets.

Picture this. You are in the city of Wuhan, a major transportation hub of China. It is often referred to as the “Chicago of China” for that. Being such a hub, the city’s affinity with traffic jams is similar to Leo Messi’s affinity with goals. Imagine you are stuck in one of the infamous Chinese traffic jams, the longest of which apparently lasted for 9 days. (I don’t understand how it can last for that long though). You are pissed, honking away incessantly, cursing the driver in front, cursing yourself for not starting earlier etc.

You don't wanna get stuck in one of these, do you?

Just when you think you are going to be stuck in your car for hours together, a couple of guys drop by your window in a motorcycle. One of them offers to drop you at your destination in their two-wheeler, and the other offers to take your place behind the steering wheel and drop your vehicle to its eventual destination. Sounds Awesome right? This is exactly what a company in Wuhan offers to its customers who are stuck in traffic.

Huang Xizhong was the brainchild behind this amazing business model. The service however is limited to people who have genuine reasons to want to escape the traffic jam, i.e. business meetings or if they have a flight to catch etc. The services have been running since 2010 and have tasted pretty good success. The service is available at a cost of about 400 yuan or about Rs.3500. So, In case you are stuck in  a traffic in Wuhan or Jinan, you now know what to do.

This is some serious Chinese jugaad for you.