Biking in Beijing

One of my New Year's resolution was to get in better shape this year (the other is to really work on my Chinese). Not being one to go to the gym, I decided to ride my bike to work regularly. It's 7km, more or less, from my apartment, at north third ring road to my office near Tsinghua University.

I have a bike (it's actually my third bike in Beijing, the other two were "lost" as they say here).  It's a one speed, perfect for Beijing's flat terrain, utilitarian with a basket on the front, a rack on the back.  It cost 350 RMB (about 45 USD); a little high but the bike salesman said something about it being specially built for foreigners, and it was indeed a little bigger than others.

So, I ride. At first, when I started riding to work, I was annoyed at all the traffic.  Taxis don't respect bikes, unless they're going to hit you (someone told me if a taxi driver hits you, he will be fined an incredible amount of money).  There is always traffic, and cars drive in the bike lane. Pedestrians often walk in the bike lane because the sidewalk is non existant.

Eventually though, it became more of a game. See how fast I can go, and not use the brakes. Pass the electric bike. Go around the buses that stop in front of you to pick up passengers.

And so it's become fun.  Beijing is actually a pretty good place to ride. It's the only place I know where the big ring roads circling the city have bike lanes. Although there are a lot of cars that don't seem to pay attention to bikes, I don't think I've ever seen an accident.  And, generally it's the fastest way for me to get from home to my office (faster than waiting in a taxi in a traffic jam).