The sight of a navy Buick people-carrier pointing the wrong way down the street was not, in itself, surprising in Beijing's anything-goes traffic. What was surprising was that the driver appeared to be in trouble with the police.
It was so surprising, in fact, that a crowd of two dozen people had stopped to watch. Standing by the driver's window was a traffic policeman, his motorcycle behind him. The Buick driver was calling somebody on his mobile phone, and looked rattled.
Beijing's traffic police are a rare sight, and nobody I know has ever actually seen them do anything useful - with the possible exception of this officer, who told the driver off for driving the wrong way up the road.
Beijing's traffic police are widely despised. One taxi driver once told me why. 'In your country, can a policeman stop your car and ask you to give him something that you have inside?' he asked.
'He can try - but it would get him into trouble with his bosses,' I said.
'Well here, you just give him what he wants and hope he stops there,' said the driver, looking thoroughly depressed.