It rained hard for a long time today in Xi'an.  Thankfully I had the day off and just enjoyed the wet afternoon from my apartment. 

But at about 5:30 in the afternoon, my friend James called me and told me that the street out in front of our apartment complex was totally flooded and that I should check it out.  This sounded like a pretty unique photo opportunity so I brought my camera with me.

I took a few shots of the scene:



Dozens of cars were backed up along the road causing a pretty nasty traffic jam.



At first, I thought the jam was being caused by skittish drivers not wanting to drive their cars through standing water.  But then I saw this car:



It turns out that this taxi was the cause of the delay.  Somehow the car fell into an open manhole cover.

Here is a video of the the area next to the stuck car.   Look for the following completely "Chinese'd out" aspects of this video: the three wheeled motorcycle, the bus flying spraying water, and the guy riding his bike while holding an umbrella:



Eventually, a number of the cars braved it through the standing water.



On your ride home from work today, be thankful that you aren't stuck in a Chinese traffic jam caused by flash flooding and a car that fell into a manhole cover.