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New Zealander ‘Bruce’ directs traffic at a busy intersection in Guiyang, Guizhou province. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Round ’em up: New Zealand professor becomes ‘traffic conductor’ in southwest China

Foreign academic at local university spends spare time ‘restoring order to the chaos’ of a busy road intersection

Vivian Lin

Videos have surfaced online of a foreign university professor in southwest China directing traffic at the centre of a busy intersection, yelling “get out of the way”.

The viral video running 3 minutes 25 seconds shows the man leaping in front of moving cars and banging on their hoods, loudly directing multiple cars to “turn right!” and telling them, “no!”

Bruce, as he is identified in a report by local newspaper Guizhou Du Shi Bao, is a professor from New Zealand who teaches at the Guizhou University of Finance and Economics in the provincial capital, Guiyang.

In the video, Bruce is also seen ushering a woman pushing a baby in a pram across the street towards the pedestrian crossing, shouting at her, “this is not the way!”

Almost 30,000 comments have circulated on Chinese online news portal 163.com, the majority criticising Bruce for interfering with the “normal functioning of internal affairs” in the city.

WATCH: Bruce rounds up traffic in Guiyang

But Bruce is very popular with his students, who describe him as a “very funny and passionate” person who often teaches his class to dance during lecture breaks.

Bruce claimed in the report that his efforts at conducting traffic had brought some order to the busy intersection, making it safer for drivers and pedestrians.

He also told the paper that he wanted to help people see traffic problems from a more socially responsible perspective, and “would do this everyday if I could”.

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