on safari

A major advantage of living in Beijing is that you can ride a bike in the city. Although I know at least one person who rides a bike in Bangkok, it just seems to unhealthy to me. Traffic and chaotic road conditions are of course the main reason for that, but one should not forget the pollution and the black fumes that can make cycling in Bangkok a nightmare. Now, Beijing has fumes and pollution, but it also has wide roads with separate bike lanes. The traffic in Beijing is slightly less hazardous than because of the complete lack of motorbikes. To make up for it, there are a huge number of electric bikes which make no sound at all and ride at full speed on the bicycle lanes .

If everyone has one, I need one too!

Today’s main task for me was to find and buy a bicycle. Having a version (though not the newest I think) of China’s Lonely Planet, I found the Qianmen Bicycle Shop that is supposed to sell good quality bikes at Qianmen Dajie in central Beijing. Now, Qianmen is really far from where I live, but I didn’t really know where else to go and it seemed easier that way.

I thus walked about 20 minutes to the subway station which is closest to my flat and took the subway to Qianmen. Emerging from the underground in Qianmen, I was quite shocked to discover that Qianmen Dajie has been closed for renovation, including some of the streets in the surrounding Hutongs.

Having come so far, I decided to go to the next bike shop I could find and I continued walking. In China, if there is one successful shop, there is most likely a similar (less successful) one nearby. I finally found one at Zhushikou Xidajie, just a few blocks from Qianmen Dajie. Bike prices ranged from about 120 to 400 Yuan. I decided to get a simple no-frills bike without gears and any other stuff that could easily break. Beijing is flat like a pancake, gears are really not important. I got it for 180 Yuan plus 40 Yuan for a lock and a lady basket.

Having been riding my bike for about four hours around Beijing, I already got a throat pain from the dust and the pollution, but it’s great fun. I really enjoy having it!

See the full flickr photo set of my today’s adventured here.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 28th, 2008 at 4:34 pm and is filed under beijing, life.