What I Learned While Biking in Beijing
In November, I got a surprise chance to spend 10 days in China, three of which I spent pedaling around Beijing. I recommend it. Holler if you need advice. Here’s what I have for now.
Parking in the bike lane: A growing threat to biking in Beijing
If You Go, Pedal
- There will be a bike for rent somewhere nearby.
- It will require a deposit of 200 or 300 yuan, cash, and cost the equivalent of about $8 a day.
- There will be a bike lane everywhere but the hutongs — the old alley neighborhoods — and you won’t need one there.
- If the bike lane is separated from the road in any way, treat this like a bicycle highway. Cyclists coming toward you will generally keep to their right, pedestrians to their left.
- If the lane is exposed to traffic — even if the lane seems enormous and there are no cars at all — cyclists coming toward you will keep to their left. Do not attempt to keep to your right and force the cyclists over. They will not move away from the curb.
- Cars turn right on red. They have the right of way.
- When you come to an intersection — and Beijing has some enormous ones — stop with the pack of cyclists. They know where to get clear of cars turning right. When the cyclists take off, you go, too.
- That traffic warden snapping his flag means you. Stop. You have to wait for this light.
- Street names often change at intersections. Your map may not account for this. Otherwise, navigating is fairly easy and gets easier with only a little practice.
- Night cycling on a protected lane with friendly strangers is a new definition for peace on Earth.
- Hungry? Eat something from a vendor with a bike-mounted stove. The grilled boiled-egg kabobs with special spices are delicious.
- The urge to sing on a bike is universal.
-- Filed by Laura Conaway