The Whistling Traffic Policeman

By Yan Yinghua

In Changde, Hunan province, a city known as the Peach-Blossom Paradise, lives a traffic policeman,affectionately dubbed "the Whistling Traffic Policeman" by the locals. He treats his ordinary job as a piece of art. He dedicates himself to safeguarding the public's harmonious life as well as the smooth traffic flow. "My whistle can talk," said Zeng Xiangfu proudly, 57 years old, of the 4th Traffic Police Division of Changde City Police Bureau in Hunan Province. He was invited to appear on the CCTV stage for his outstanding performance, and his deeds have been reported by national newspapers, such as the People's Daily and China Police Daily. His hard work on the front line in traffic enforcement and his dedication to his service of 36 years have been substantiated by many honorary titles over the years, such as the Second-Class Hero Model of the National Public Security System, "National Peace Hero" "National Lei-Feng Style Model" "Most Beautiful Policeman at Local Units at the First Ceremony in China"and so on. In 2019, he was granted an audience with the State Councilor Zhao Kezhi, then Minister of Public Security. In 2021, the honorary title "Zeng Xiangfu Model Police Traffic Post" was named after him and conferred to his traffic post at Zhilan Road by the Traffic Division of Hunan Province Public Security Department. His traffic post became the model of outstanding traffic management in the whole province. Today, sixteen "Zeng Xiangfu"model traffic posts have emerged throughout the downtown area. And they have become a beautiful sight, safeguarding peace and smooth traffic flow.

"5-step Whistling Melody for Traffic Direction"

As a traffic policeman working on the front line for many years, Zeng is always faced with the question: how can we help people feel easy and comfortable on the road? Creative and resourceful, Zeng took the job of a traffic controller at the Zhenglan Road intersection after he voluntarily stepped down as the director of the subdivision.

Zhilan Road intersection is the busiest in the downtown area. Surrounded by the elementary school and the high school, both the largest in the city, and close to the city's most populated neighborhood, it is a small area of 500 square meters but has an everyday traffic volume of 40000 vehicles. The south and north-bound lanes are both very narrow, leaving no room for the construction of an extra left-turn lane. If traffic lights are the only tools for people to follow traffic directions, congestion can easily occur during peak hours. Often, one instance of careless driving causes severe congestion at the intersection and brings tremendous pressure on traffic flow in the whole area.

Over the years, Zeng saw people hurry to work and kids rush to school every morning. He started to figure out a way to have the drivers and pedestrians better informed of the road condition ahead of them so that they could pass the intersection more swiftly. He was determined to solve the congestion problem.

A graduate of Hunan Province Arts School, Zeng is skilled at playing the saxophone and several traditional Chinese musical instruments, such as the hulusi flute. He enthusiastically applied his love of music to his work by coming up with a better way to direct traffic. After repeated research and experimenting, he was confident that he might use a whistling method to simplify the traditional traffic direction gestures for better traffic flow. Finally, he invented a "5-step Whistling Melody of Traffic Direction"to ease traffic effectively.

"Di-DiDi..." This is the clear whistle people nowadays can hear every day at this intersection. Full of lively rhythm, the sound sometimes implies hastiness, sometimes easiness. Listening to his whistling sound, drivers from all directions can follow his gestures and pass the intersection smoothly and swiftly. Under Zeng's combination of"Whistling + Gesture" traffic management, the intersection now can allow 20 to 30 vehicles to pass for the duration of one green light, while in the past it was seven to eight vehicles.

Zeng's "5-step Whistling Melody of Traffic Direction"can convey five different kinds of traffic messages to passing vehicles and pedestrians at the intersection: stop,wait to go straight, go straight, wait to turn left, and turn left. His method involves the combination of whistling and gestures, and he applies this method flexibly according to the volume of ongoing traffic from all directions.Whichever lane that has the largest traffic volume enjoys the priority of passing first. Traffic management effectiveness has been greatly enhanced, and this method is more flexible and more visual with the help of sound and movement. As a result, waiting time for both drivers and pedestrians has been reduced to a great extent, and road capacity has been improved to a new level. Gradually,more and more drivers have become familiar with this method and have accepted it delightedly.

At the beginning, Zeng's whistling practice resulted in a swollen mouth and a sore throat. He even suffered from having meals. But his persistence paid off when he kept polishing his whistling skills to improve its effectiveness at work. Finally, he increased the whistling volume by 20 dB,and the sound became louder and clearer, as well as less physically demanding to him. This solution successfully solved many traffic problems, such as a driver's failure to hear the whistling instructions due to closed truck windows, or the pedestrian's overlooking of traffic lights or policeman's gestures due to their habitual behavior of checking cellphone messages while walking.

Whether it is severe winter or sweltering summer,Zeng accomplishes these three actions at the Zhilan Road intersection each day: walking more than ten thousand steps,making traffic hand gestures, and blowing his whistle more than ten thousand times. Even as the downtown area was experiencing a tremendous traffic volume increase as a whole,the traffic congestion rate at the Zhilan Road intersection decreased by 60% and traffic accidents by 45%.

A "Work Horse" at the Traffic Intersection

"One minute on the job, sixty second's dedication to it." This is the motto Zeng has kept in his heart and put into practice since day one of joining the police force. Rain or shine, he was always the first to report to duty and last to leave. He said, "Arrive early and get prepared early. Whenever congestion happens, if people notice we are already there handling traffic problems,they'll feel relieved and will complain less." To Zeng's performance, his colleagues commented, "He really loves his job and is always performing his duty wonderfully. He is a hardworking person. And he likes to try his best on everything he's engaged in."In March 2016, worrying about Zeng's age, the division's supervisors were considering moving him back from the front line and assigning him with an administrative job at the office building. They also thought the traffic post was too challenging to him.However, the proposal was refused by Zeng. Instead, after he voluntarily stepped down as the subdivision's director,he pleaded with the Party to keep him on the front line. He said, "Over the years, I'm very used to working this traffic post. For me, to ensure smooth traffic free from accidents and to see people on their way free from congestion is to achieve the maximum value of myself working here!"

A "Willing Ox" under the Flashing Traffic Lights

When on duty, Zeng combined severity with leniency.He was patient in convincing people of their violations and persistent in seeking a mutual understanding between police and the public. In March 2020, a high school student motorist without a valid driving license was pulled over by Zeng. With a smile and much patience, he took the trouble of explaining traffic laws to him for thirty minutes. The student accepted his instruction willingly as part of the traffic education he needed and paid the fines afterward.

On December 20, 2016, a driver surnamed Zheng was stopped by Zeng due to suspected driving under the influence of alcohol. Zheng was aggressive and threatening.Zeng didn't flinch. Seeing this, the driver changed his attitude abruptly by begging Zeng to turn a blind eye to his violation of law and let him go. Zeng didn't give in.Instead, he faithfully executed his duty according to the law and convinced the driver of the harmful consequences of drunk driving. He took the time to explain to him the relevant laws for more than half an hour. Finally, the driver took the legal punishment he deserved.

In 2019, the Changde Street intersection became extraordinarily crowded with the arrival of the Dragon Boat Festival. A large number of people and various vehicles were present, and Zeng was busy directing traffic with his whistle. Suddenly, a taxi pulled to a stop by his side and the driver called out to him loudly, "The old man here is having a stroke. Would you please help us clear the way?"Zeng rushed to the car and found an old man unconscious.He then hurried back to his patrol car and escorted the taxi to the hospital with sirens and megaphones on. Along the road, a lifeline leading to the city's No.1 People's Hospital opened up promptly. The taxi arrived at the hospital without any delay. Zeng helped move the old man out of the car and left the hospital only after seeing the old man wheeled into the emergency room. The next day, he was still concerned with the old man's condition and visited him on his way back from work. He was relieved to know that the old man's life was saved thanks to receiving timely surgery in the hospital.

"Whenever it's time for elementary students to go to school or return from school, Mr. Zeng holds one of the students with one hand, and directing the traffic with the other. He did this continuously for so many years without interruption," said Li Hongbo, a teacher at Changde Zhilan Experimental School. It is Zeng's innate sense of duty that turns each concern of an ordinary individual into his own obligation. Throughout his career as a traffic policeman,similar stories are legion. He corrected and imposed fines for more than 120,000 cases of traffic violations with warnings and citations; he was involved in more than 6,000 cases of administrative law enforcement, with a record of zero complaints from the public. He received more than 300 complimentary banners for outstanding performance from those whom he helped. He also obtained tens of thousands of thumbs-up and favorable comments online. Indeed, he has become an icon of harmonious law enforcement.

"His whistling sound gives me a sense of security!"said a blind man called Zhou Yuanhua. His spirit of a loving and willing ox gained general public approval.One hot summer day, a delivery man on his three-wheeled motorbike drove over and left some purchased bottled water for him, giving a salute before returning to his work.One stormy day, a bus driver seeing him soaking wet at the intersection stopped by his side and passed an umbrella to him. One student, who was helped by him often, asked her aunt to come by and hand over a complimentary banner to him. One of his online friends told Zeng that whenever he was in low spirits, he would pass by his post at the intersection just to hear his clear and powerful whistling sound. He said he felt a rejuvenated sense of hope towards life every time he listened to this sound.

Today, Zeng Xiangfu becomes the warm embodiment of the sentiment that "The Police and the Public are One Big Family". The marvelous whistling sound he makes empowers the city with urban harmony, representing itself as an inspiring song for the whole traffic police in Hunan Province.

Seasons have come and gone for 36 years in the profession; they have witnessed a young Zeng growing into an old Zeng. Time flies, but his loyalty has always remained towards the Party and the people. He has always said that his emotional attachment to the intersection and its passersby would continue.