The Whistling Traffic Policeman

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 sub-division.

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.