On Beijing's Chang'an Avenue, one man stands out - with precise and emphatic movements, he could pass off as an orchestra conductor.
He is, in a way: Su Junshuan directs traffic with all the grace of a maestro conducting a philharmonic, as he has been doing for more than three decades.
And many a participant at the annual sessions of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee may remember the ramrod-straight Su.
"Unlike some years ago, we now have to focus on more than one thing we must not only ensure that traffic flows freely for NPC deputies and CPPCC members, but also see that Beijing residents are not inconvenienced," he said.
Su's team is responsible for traffic from Tian'anmen Square in the east to Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in the west. About half the fleets of vehicles carrying people heading for, or leaving, the sessions pass by his route.
From today until the end of the two sessions, Su and his colleagues have to ensure that no two fleets travel together, blocking traffic for a long time - their job is to allow a minimum 40-second time lag between fleets.
They also have to make sure that it takes no more than 30 minutes for all the convoys to pass, and that other vehicles be held up for as short a time as possible.
Su is confident of meeting the targets. After all, he has been witness to many momentous occasions since he became a traffic policeman in 1971.
Now 61, he could have retired but was asked to stay because his expertise is needed for the upcoming Olympics.
He has thousands of students among Beijing's traffic policemen and women. "It takes talent to be a good traffic policeman, who has to always be attentive and quick-witted," he said.
"It is also a great job because little is kept secret from the traffic police and one has a great feeling of being involved in history."
When Richard Nixon made his historic visit to Beijing in February 1972, breaking a two-decade diplomatic deadlock between the United States and China, Su was directing traffic as the US president's motorcade passed by.
Seven months later, Japanese prime minister Tanaka Kakuei arrived in Beijing to normalize relations between the two countries, and Su was there, too.
He was entrusted with the task because he could always be depended upon to maintain smooth traffic flow and prevent accidents.
Source: China Daily
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