Cycling in Beijing offers a glance at the people<\/p>\n
By Harry Bhaskara<\/p>\n
BEIJING (JP): The bicycle is still the most popular means of
\ntransportation in Beijing despite the invasion of taxis on the
\ncity's streets.<\/p>\n
To many residents, bicycles are cost-efficient, reliable,
\nenvironmentally friendly, and promote health for their riders.<\/p>\n
\"Cars are very expensive and only a few can afford them. Most
\nof the cars in the streets are state-owned,\" said Maggie Shu, a
\nBeijing resident.<\/p>\n
Cycling in Beijing will almost let you forget that you are in
\none of most crowded cities in the world.<\/p>\n
First, Beijing covers 25,000 square kilometers, or more than
\n20 times more area than Jakarta. Second, as a result of careful
\nplanning, the bicycle lanes are considerably wider than those in
\nother Asian cities.<\/p>\n
Most of the streets are divided into city blocks; so with a
\nbike and a map one can feel the pulse of life in the city.<\/p>\n
\"We can see more and travel leisurely at our own pace,\" said
\nYap Ming Chan, a tourist from Singapore, who was surprised to
\nlearn that bikes are available for rent at the star-rated hotel
\nwhere he was staying.<\/p>\n
A bike rents for 25 Yuan (about US$3.00) per day, he said.
\nOutside the hotel one can rent a bike for only 5 Yuan with a
\ndeposit of 200 Yuan.<\/p>\n
In addition to a parking area for cars, the hotel also has a
\nparking lot for bicycles with a guard on duty round the clock,
\nYaun said.<\/p>\n
At a glance<\/p>\n
Bikers in Beijing include a cross section of the urbanites.
\nOne can see the scantily clad vegetable traders, petty traders,
\nwell-dressed office workers, school children in their uniforms,
\nhusbands and wives, young lovers, the elderly, mothers and babies
\nand even fashionable Beijing belles.<\/p>\n
Squeezed in between are the tricycle carts used to transport
\nvarious goods.<\/p>\n
Along the willow-lined streets, other nuances of city life are
\nrevealed to the cycler, such as the simple side-street vegetable
\nmarkets, the construction workers laboring well into the night
\nand young girls quite safe biking alone after dark.<\/p>\n
Cycling to Beijingers is almost second nature. They are so
\nskilled at it that they often come within inches of cars or buses
\nwithout incident when negotiating the busy streets.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the most striking scene is the masses of Beijingers
\npedaling along seemingly unaware of each other.<\/p>\n
A girl in a miniskirt seems to go unnoticed. A school student
\nreads a book while cycling to school.<\/p>\n
\"They mind their own business,\" said In Satilah Hamzah, a
\ntourist from Malaysia. \"It is good in a way.\"<\/p>\n
Unlike in Jakarta, where bicycles give way to cars, it is the
\nbuses and the cars that tolerate bicycles in Beijing.<\/p>\n
The traffic here reflects one aspect of the life of the
\npeople, said a foreigner.<\/p>\n
\"Bicycles represent the masses. There is a kind of antagonism
\nbetween bicycles and the more modern forms of transport,\" said an
\nAmerican expatriate who has lived in Beijing for more than three
\nyears.<\/p>\n
Despite the few privately owned cars, automobiles began
\nclogging Beijing's wide and well-paved roads about two years ago.<\/p>\n
Motorcycles, however, are conspicuously absent. The city buses
\nand the underground train still serve this city of 12 million
\npeople.<\/p>\n
Rickshaws are seen only in some areas frequented by tourists.<\/p>\n
The 1980's open economic policy has led to a boom in the
\nnumber of bicycles.<\/p>\n
According to the China's Foreign Trade magazine, the country
\nproduced 40 million bicycles last year and is the largest
\nbicycle-producing nation in the world.<\/p>\n
Indeed Beijing still has a chance to prevent itself from
\nbecoming another Bangkok or Jakarta by keeping the inflow of new
\ncars at a minimum, although the ubiquitous yellow taxis, the
\nminibuses and the sedan taxis, are poised to flood the streets.<\/p>",
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