A Shanghai traffic police officer has drawn widespread praise online after switching to fluent English to handle a minor traffic violation involving two foreign tourists.
The incident occurred around 10 pm on Nov 5, when Xu Yichao, an officer with the Jing'an district traffic police, spotted a woman riding an electric bicycle with an adult passenger. The practice violates Shanghai's non-motor vehicle regulations, which prohibit cyclists from carrying passengers over the age of 12.
After stopping the pair and discovering that they were tourists from Thailand who did not speak Chinese, Xu immediately switched to English to explain the local traffic rules and provide on-the-spot safety education.
"Once I stopped the vehicle and identified myself, they spoke a few words in English, so I immediately conducted the enforcement procedure in English," Xu recalled.
As it was a first-time offense that caused minimal harm and was promptly corrected, Xu issued a written warning in accordance with the Administrative Penalty Law and local regulations governing nonmotor vehicles.
Video footage of the encounter quickly went viral on Chinese social media, with netizens praising Xu's fluent English, professionalism and courteous manner.
"I've never studied abroad. I was just interested in English from an early age, including foreign films and TV series," said Xu, a Shanghai native born in 2003. "I have a habit of imitating dialogue from TV shows to practice pronunciation and intonation."
Xu's English proficiency also reflects the training he received as a police officer. At the police academy, he took compulsory English courses, including specialized police English covering public security, criminal justice and traffic enforcement scenarios. After joining the Jing'an branch, he received further targeted training in handling cases involving foreigners.
"Our detachment holds regular training to sharpen front-line officers' bilingual enforcement skills," Xu said. "We also review case studies from other districts to master technical terminology and learn how traffic violations are defined internationally, ensuring our enforcement remains standardized."
Xu's detachment patrols the busy intersection of Middle Yan'an Road and Huashan Road, a major commercial hub. Officers born in the 2000s now form the backbone of the squad.
According to Xu's colleague Tang Qixin, using English while on duty has become routine.
"We encounter international visitors frequently on our patrols, and virtually everyone on the team can handle routine enforcement in English," Tang said.
"During law enforcement, we ensure there are laws to follow, laws are observed and strictly enforced, and violations are prosecuted — a principle applied equally to everyone, including foreign tourists," he added.
The viral encounter reflects Shanghai's broader efforts to combine strict law enforcement with accessible public services, said Li Xiaochun, an official with the traffic police corps of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau.
"In recent years, we have promoted strict law enforcement and established regular training mechanisms," Li said. "Our goal is to integrate standardized enforcement with public legal education, demonstrating both the authority and the warmth of the law."
These efforts come amid a rise in Shanghai's inbound tourism. According to the municipal culture and tourism bureau, the city welcomed 5.31 million overseas visitors in the first half of 2026, up 27.82 percent year-on-year. South Korea, Russia, the United States, Thailand and Malaysia were the top five source markets.
In the first eight months of 2026, inbound arrivals reached nearly 7.06 million, an increase of 27.8 percent from the same period last year.
For Xu, however, the online attention remains secondary to his duties.
"We handle hundreds of violations a day, so this was simply routine," he said. "Still, if the video helps raise awareness of Shanghai's traffic laws among international visitors, it serves as meaningful public outreach."
