Eric's Beijing Diary

Stopped by the shop and had my mechanic repack the bearings on the front axle. Ten yuan. At current exchange rates, about a dollar-and-a-half U.S. The vehicle is a bicycle, and this is China. Local transportation is cheaper in china, if you choose to live simply. No insurance payments. No car payments. Fuel? Eat plenty of oatmeal. Australian oatmeal is cheap in China. Once in awhile, I do take a taxi, but not very often. The airport shuttle is 16 RMB (two dollars) when I need to go there. And a bus ride costs about a quarter. The subway is 2 kuai. Used to be three, and I thought it would go back up after the Olympics, but they say they are going to keep it down. Add it all up, and I would say that the amount of money I spend for local transportation in a month is about what the average American pays for two or three gallons of gas.