Between Guangzhou and Zhenlong there is a famous pineapple growing area.  The pineapple ladies would set up stands along the side of the three-lane road and try to flag down cars to buy their pineapples.  As there was no verge for the road, people would just stop and sort of pull of the lane.  If it was not already a small nuisance to drivers when one would suddenly stop, it has become even more precarious, now that the three-lane road is being replaced by an eight-lane super highway; again, there is no real verge. Now, the pineapple ladies just set up their stands in the small median divider.  They have no fear of the super highway, but the rest of us might have reason to fear or at least be ready to brake!

It is actually very common for people to go traipsing across highways.  You have to remember that as little as two short decades ago, China was a rural agrarian nation.  The rapid growth, fueled by exports, in turn, fueled by the cheap Yuan, has caused whole cities, like Shenzhen, to replace small fishing villages, and the infrastructure, connecting those megopolises, necessarily, need to be wide.  However, people, in the country and in the city, walk along, ride bikes, or cross superhighways, without really paying attention to traffic, no less.  Buses, too, tend to stop anywhere.  One always has to be alert and expect the unexpected.