Eric's Beijing Diary

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Asia lives on bikes. I know, everybody says it's changing, and when I see the old pictures of Beijing and Shanghai in the seventies, when streets were totally clogged with bicycles, I can believe it. But bicycles are still very much a part of life in this city, and many other cities in China. There are exceptions, such as Chongqing, which is much to hilly for bicycles to be practical. That's one thing I really like about Beijing. It is flat enough that you can ride anywhere in the city. And it is dry enough that you can do this year-around. And since there so many bikes, every street has a bicycle lane. Even when you cross the ring road, there is a special lane for bycyclists to work their way through the cloverleaf. It is really quite impressive.

Takes me about 45 minutes to get to the Forbidden City. But I usually don't go down that far. I ride down to Houhai lake and explore the hutongs. But that's touring. It is the every day use that really saves me. You don't really need a car in China. I do take a taxi once in awhile, but very rarely. Busses I take more often than taxis, especially if I am with someone. But even that I don't do very often. It's just so easy to get around on a bike. And cheap. The only significant overhead is the cost of thievery. I have been here for three years, and I am on bike number 4. If I can make this thing last at least one more year, I will be down to one bike a year. Still not good, but my point is that even with that problem, getting around on a bicycle is relatively inexpensive. In three years, the total amount I have spent buying bicycles and keeping them in good repair probably doesn't come to more than a couple hundred dollars.