It’s a city of bicycles, 9 million to be exact as you can be. While China's driver population is growing at the rate of 4 million new drivers per year, the common bike is still a significant part of day-to-day getting about in Beijing.

Bikes are fairly well catered for on most Beijing streets with separated bike lanes common on all main roads. This is all very well however until you reach an intersection where any semblance of civility is tossed out the drivers window. To call it a free for all is an understatement. Minor inconveniences like red lights are optional. Frequent exercising of your car’s horn and driving wherever there is a space on the road is not. Indeed it’s a sign of respect and consideration for fellow road users.

Once you join the masses on bikes, riding in Beijing can be very rewarding. In our case, the hotel loaned us a couple of brand new Chinese build, sit upright models, for free. It’s so flat that gears are hardly necessary. A good map will lead you through the Hutongs, narrow streets where many thousands of people still live a traditional urban lifestyle. Gliding around the Hutongs on bikes you see it all. From people on the street playing board games through to street dentists cleaning teeth. Its recommended that you lock your bike up when parking it but the locks supplied to us were so flimsy a squirrel could have chewed through it and made off if only he could reach the pedals.

There is a staggering array of types of bikes with 3 wheeled cargo bikes and electrically assisted bikes being common. Lycra is almost non-existant while a carrier or basket is a necessity. The key to cycling Beijing to join the crowds of other cyclists and let them carry you along. You certainly won't look out of place.

Print