The Beijing bikies

Yes yes I know it's been a while since I updated this little sucker, but it seems that a lot of Chinese internet cafes have a block on this site. I'm not sure why, apparently watching hardcore porn is ok (judging by the couple at the next table sharing headphones and giggling at the action on their screen), but maybe my blog might contain some hidden pro-capitalist propaganda, yeah right eat McDonalds buy Nikes invade Iraq

So after a couple of days of subarctic temps we had a pure gold sunny beautiful day and grabbed a couple of rickety old rustbucket bikes that hadn't seen a pump or a spot of grease since Methusalah was a boy and hit the crazy streets. We wanted to ride out to the summer palace, a bit out of the city, and the lady hiring the bikes to us was pretty doubtful that we'd make it. The traffic is nuts, vehicles of every description thundering along. There are bike lanes although these are filled with electric scooters, rickshaws, taxis and buses wildly careening into stops heedless of the 20 or so cyclists they sideswipe each time. These can all be going in the direction of traffic, or just as easily coming directly for you. And there's apparently no rule as to what side oncoming vehicles in the wrong lane should pass on, it depends on each individual encounter and goes by what is technically termed the chicken system. First one to blink loses.

Oh and I don't think there's such a thing as a bike helmet in China. Or a working set of brakes.

But I tell you what, I've never felt so safe riding around a city before. Sydney must be one of the most bike-unfriendly cities in the world. Here everybody rides. I mean you see people of every age, often two or three to a bike, most carrying cargo I'd be afraid wouldn't fit in my station wagon. It's a fanastic feeling which I can only liken to being part of a critical mass bike ride on an epic scale. Bikes really are the majority of traffic and the main way people get around and it's great to be part of that.

I also loved that there's no such thing as road rage. People are cutting each other off continuously and each intersection promises at least half a dozen near-death experiences, but we never saw anyone get mad or even register the slightest flicker of displeasure when a driver would break about seventeen road rules and almost mow them down. I suppose that road rage is impossible in Beijing - if you were inclined to it you'd be in a permanent state of incandescent fury and would probably burst a blood vessel after two blocks.

Anyway the Summer Palace was gorgeous (rich imperial bastards) and the Temple of Heaven even more so. Best day in China so far.

Temple of Heaven



Our tour guide

Mao and I