Aug 03 2008
Why Beijing is not good for bikes?
China used to be called the Kingdom of Bicycle. But riding a Bicycle in Beijing the capital of China is not an good way to experience the culture and locals’ life anymore. Most of Beijingers do not used bicycle as their daily transportation tool anymore. There are three reasons why many Beijingers have gave up their beloved bicycles and switched to other vehicles.
First, pollution is a very serious problem in Beijing.
Most of time, the whole city is covered by dirty smog and automobile emissions. Beautiful blue sky is very precious in Beijing. Riding a bicycle in traffic is the worst commute experience you could imagine. The traffic pollution might cause respiratory problems and even hurt your eyes. The central government has invested millions of RMB to treat the pollution problem, but…
Second, it’s not safe to peddling on the main street.
In the past eight years the number of vehicles clogging Beijing’s streets has more than tripled to more than 3 million. Traffic rules are widely ignored by drivers. Especially the taxi drivers, many of them really do not have very good road manners. Due to the traffic congestion, main roads do not have bicycle special lane as before. It’s very dangerous for bicyclists to share the same lane with “crazy” car drivers.
Third, Beijing is BIG.
Beijing is getting bigger and bigger. It usually takes at least half hour bus ride from point A to point B. Actually, if a salaryman’s daily commute time is less than 1 hour, we will call him a lucky guy. Who wants to pedaling for an hour in an extremely cold winter, hot summer or windy spring day of Beijing?
Farewell bicycle ! Hope one day this environment-friendly tool would come back to our daily life again.
