Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Ahoy from the land of SS beaters(CHINA)

Just wanted to check in from this crazy place they call CHINA. This is the land of SS beater, millions of bikes and none of them worth more than 50 bucks. I'm gonna rent or buy a bike for the next two days when i'm in Beijin. 35 bucks for a brand new SS cruiser. I'd get something fixed, but selection is limited out here. and it'd probably get stolen rightaway so it's good that it's cheap. I haven't seen any real road bikes here much less fixies. Anyone on the forums from china? Crazy place to ride though. Will post pics as soon as I can of the masses of bikers.

Yo I've ridden in Beijing before. Just gotta say, if you can't read chinese, watch where you leave your bike. I parked my rental outside of a museum. When I came out, there was a lock that locked mine and several others to a pole. We got a policeman and he pointed out a sign claiming that it said no bike parking. The problem was it was in chinese and there were no pictures to indicate what the sign meant. So to end the story, the cop unlocked my bike and immediately 4 chinese guys (presumably the owners of the other bikes) swept in and claimed theirs before the cop could lock them back up. But i mean, we didn't use locks. Everyone has a bike out there so no need to steal i guess.

Nor from but visit family in Beijing every year.
Good time to visit as it isn't so hot and sad to say
but everytime I go there are less & less bikes on the streets.
Maybe it is because of SARS or *gasp* the increased number
of drivers.

Nothing beats steamed dumplings & coke that tastes like pepsi
after ride around the city.

jeff

Hey, how can a nation possibly be modern and on the go if people insist on riding bicycles for transportation? Something must be done! (http://www.cnn.com/2003/TRAVEL/12/09/china.bike.ban.ap/)

Fortunately--probably realizing that not only was it not economically feasible but that if it were, traffic would become unbelievably nightmarishly congested--the government backed off that plan.

I'll make it out there some day. Do you need a visa to go? Tell us if you find any special nooks and/or crannies(sp).

Re: shanghai article....
my memory recalls that it was very difficult to run red lights on major roads in china (on a bicycle). They had those gate things like they do at parking garages. they lower the bar at red lights. Running it sort of involved decapitation.

you do need a visa to go to china. its cheapest to order one
in advance by a couple weeks, but they can be expedited.

in my experience traffic laws are more of a "suggestion" than
a real law. congenstion is terrible & will only get worse leading
up to the 2008 Olympics (Yay!!!) and this coming from someone
who has driven/biked in LA.

Remember China is where the idea of Critical Mass was born
and there it is an occurance at every light not once a month

jeff

Having lived in Beijing before, i'll give you the tale when I come back from night school :/

I was in china for a month this winter, and i gotta say, Chengdu traffic was the worst to bike through. I learned to just follow the locals when they, say, slowly crept across traffic and took over the streets. We call it critical mass, they call it how to get to work.

Do be careful where you park. Most major attractions have a guy sitting there who will charge like .5Y or so to watch your bike. Always lock it to itself in one of those, too! And always take the crappiest looking rental available. If you lose it, you're screwed.

you paid for parking? damn. out of curiosity do you think you
got a "foreigners" rate? I don't speak Chinese, but I still managed
not to pay for bike parking.

jeff

China is the next big market for cars.

you paid for parking? damn. out of curiosity do you think you
got a "foreigners" rate? I don't speak Chinese, but I still managed
not to pay for bike parking.

jeff
c'mon, 1/2Y is like pennies for us. and yeah, everyone paid. i watched. you're paying the attendant. makes sense.

you paid for parking? damn. out of curiosity do you think you
got a "foreigners" rate? I don't speak Chinese, but I still managed
not to pay for bike parking.

jeff

We sort of had to get rid of that a while back. At least in Beijing. It would be slightly amusing to watch though.

Some guy goes up (obviously not a local) to a vendor, how much is XYZ.

Answer: $30

Another guy goes up (obviously a local) to a vendor, how much is XYZ.

Answer: 30 cents.

wow, i feel slightly ashamed that i'm ethnically chinese, yet have never lived there (or anywhere outside of nyc, for that matter..) i am purebred chinese but speak like a gringo. so do you think that they'd quote me local or ex-pat price??

chimbleysweep: i know, i know, 1/2 an RMB is nothing to us i guess that's the thriftiness in me. But isn't if fun to bargin for everything!?

turd: same here. if you don't open your mouth they'll quote you the local price.
otherwise I just shake my head and walk away.

i just love how you can buy a bike at the grocery store & that i found chinese newspapers as a shim for my seatpost on my brand new cruiser

jeff