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Reflections on a Wandering Life.....
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Chongqing. Took the train from Chengdu yesterday afternoon. One of the first things I noticed as I was riding the bus to the youth hostel...there are no bicycles in Chongqing. I didn't see a single one on the ride from the airport to the youth hostel. Chongqing folks just don't like to ride bikes. There are no laws against riding bikes. And as far as I know, there is not even any license requirement. People just don't want to ride them. I asked the young lady from the youth hostel about this. She said, "There are many cars in the road and it's very dangerous." She has a point. 
There are no bicycle lanes in Chongqing. Riding a bike would indeed be much more dangerous in this city than in Beijing, where every road has a bicycle lane. But she is seeing the problem backwards. The reason there are no bicycles is not because there are no bicycle lanes. It's quite the other way round. There are no bicycle lanes because no one wants to ride bicycles. There are also no bicycle repair places. It would be very inconvenient to own a bicycle in Chongqing. But again, same thing. The lack of bicycle repair places is one of the effects, not the cause.
You give up? OK, I'll tell you. It's the hills. Chongqing is very hilly. And we're talking very steep hills. For example, the youth hostel I am staying at has two entrances, one on the first floor, and one on the fifth floor.
This morning, I took the bus to Red Cliff Village. Maybe it should be called "Red Bluff Village." Red Cliff Village housed the Communist Party delegation to the Guomingdang during the Mingguo period when China was ruled by the KMT. When I got there, I thought the place was closed, because there was no one in sight. I made my way to the display, and was asked for a ticket. I had not yet gotten one, because I had not seen any ticket window open. The guy took a ticket out of a desk and gave it to me. They are still going through the process of taking your ticket, but they also supply the ticket for you. I suppose the reason for this is that among modern Chinese people, there aren't that many history buffs.
They will tell you that Chongqing has cable cars. But they're not really cable cars. They're more like cable buses. I don't even know what the official maximum capacity is, but they can easily hold 20 people. These days, there are several other ways to get across the river (actually two rivers), but it wouldn't be quite right to say that they are just there for "old times sake." There are still lots of people in this part of town who depend on them quite heavily as their way of getting across the great divide. The reason, of course, is that bicycles are impractical, and most people can't afford cars.
There are no bicycle lanes in Chongqing. Riding a bike would indeed be much more dangerous in this city than in Beijing, where every road has a bicycle lane. But she is seeing the problem backwards. The reason there are no bicycles is not because there are no bicycle lanes. It's quite the other way round. There are no bicycle lanes because no one wants to ride bicycles. There are also no bicycle repair places. It would be very inconvenient to own a bicycle in Chongqing. But again, same thing. The lack of bicycle repair places is one of the effects, not the cause. You give up? OK, I'll tell you. It's the hills. Chongqing is very hilly. And we're talking very steep hills. For example, the youth hostel I am staying at has two entrances, one on the first floor, and one on the fifth floor.
This morning, I took the bus to Red Cliff Village. Maybe it should be called "Red Bluff Village." Red Cliff Village housed the Communist Party delegation to the Guomingdang during the Mingguo period when China was ruled by the KMT. When I got there, I thought the place was closed, because there was no one in sight. I made my way to the display, and was asked for a ticket. I had not yet gotten one, because I had not seen any ticket window open. The guy took a ticket out of a desk and gave it to me. They are still going through the process of taking your ticket, but they also supply the ticket for you. I suppose the reason for this is that among modern Chinese people, there aren't that many history buffs.
They will tell you that Chongqing has cable cars. But they're not really cable cars. They're more like cable buses. I don't even know what the official maximum capacity is, but they can easily hold 20 people. These days, there are several other ways to get across the river (actually two rivers), but it wouldn't be quite right to say that they are just there for "old times sake." There are still lots of people in this part of town who depend on them quite heavily as their way of getting across the great divide. The reason, of course, is that bicycles are impractical, and most people can't afford cars.
