Cliff-hanging traffic
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Wu Hao balances himself along the guardrail at cliff's edge to make way for passing trucks. Photos by Zhao Zhongzhi / Xinhua |
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When there is little traffic, Wu can catch a brief nap in the patrol car, which is a rewarding moment. |
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Wu directs a heavy-duty truck from a makeshift platform. When Aizhai township's suspension bridge is finished later this year, the officers will return to more routine traffic management. |
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Wu and his colleagues are used to working without offices, dormitories, water supply and electricity. Lunch by the roadside of Aizhai highway is the norm. |
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Working out in the gym is Wu's way to relieve the pressure of work. |
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To keep traffic flowing, Wu sometimes has to serve as a part-time mechanic for the passing drivers. |
While the Aizhai community awaits its grand new suspension bridge, a few men in uniform face a treacherous job.
Back in 2009, a photo depicting several officers directing traffic from a makeshift wooden platform over a cliff was circulated on the Internet, and the public reaction was heated. The platform, located along the Aizhai highway in Aizhai township, Hunan province, became known as "the most staggering traffic police stand in history".
Wu Hao, 41, commander of the No 3 traffic police squadron of Jishou city, has been working on the platform for five years.
Shortly after he took the post, the construction of the Aizhai suspension bridge started, which dramatically increased the traffic flow of the highway. With a stream of vehicles - including more heavy-duty trucks than cars - winding around the highway, traffic jams and accidents were commonplace at first.
Due to the complicated terrain, the passing drivers couldn't even report their exact locations when accidents occurred. Therefore Wu and his colleagues worked out something innovative by giving the sections of roads such names as "8-shaped turning" and "twin turns". As the names become increasingly widespread among the drivers, the traffic condition of the highway has improved significantly. There have been no serious accidents and jams on the highway in the past five years.
Moreover, to offer help for drivers in difficulty, the officers put their cell phone numbers on roadside boards and kept their phones on 24 hours a day.
Their diligence has won the recognition of local residents and drivers.
"We farmers think our cattle are hard-working, but these officers work even harder," said Yang Guihua, a local Miao ethnic woman who runs a grocery store nearby. "I would rather keep my son at home as a land tiller than let him work as a traffic police officer in such arduous conditions."
When the suspension bridge is finished by the end of this year, it will connect two mountains and become the longest of its kind in the world.
The mission of Aizhai highway may therefore draw to a close, but the officers' mission of serving the people will never end, Wu says with a determined smile.
China Daily
(China Daily 06/04/2011 page6)
