Buying a bicycle in Beijing

April 28th, 2008

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 .

bikes  bike

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.

qiamen daxie closed for renovation  hutong renovation

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.

bike shop  my bike

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.

13 Responses to “Buying a bicycle in Beijing”

  1. caillou Says:

    how about using roller skates?

  2. Thierry Says:

    roller skaters????? Biking is sooooo coolll….

    go on tell us more muriel….tell us a story…tell us your legend…

  3. muriel Says:

    lol. I think roller skating would be a lot of fun in Beijing if you have good breaks and you can make use of them. If not, I wouldn’t dare do it :). Personally, I love biking. But a story? Or even a legend? Hm, I dunno, need to think of something first.

  4. acaiberry Says:

    HOlla
    How’s it going people?
    I have a question thats been bothering me for a while.. What is acai berry?
    I keep seeing commercials on tv and ads on the web so im finally starting to get curious.
    I guess its some fruit that is extremly healthy for you and your skin?
    I wouldnt mind losing a couple pounds so i kinda want to buy acai berry .. so if any
    of you know any cheap online stores that would be cool!
    I also saw it was featured on OPRAH so maybe there is some truth to this lol.

  5. Tommy Lee Says:

    Hi there, I am not sure I totally agree with you, but it is well stated. Keep up the good work.

  6. davidnk Says:

    Hi! mm O´m living in beijing.. i´m from COlombia.. and I want to ride bike :P.. but.. BMX do you know some place where I can buy one bike? in my country I have one.. but I didn´t bring it ..

    I need help!

  7. motor bike Says:

    Very nice information. Thanks for this.

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    Hi everyone! :D
    Im new to muriel.totoshi.com.
    Hope I can be a regular here!

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