Originally Posted by smellygary
Part of it is that theres not a whole lot of corporate sponsonship for sports in China.....yet. And there's still a bit of a different mentality to the bicycle in China. Its for transprotation, not fun. If you try to explain about riding a bike for fun on a hot day, or rainy or what ever, it just won't sink in. "Why don't you just take the bus instead? The idea of bicycle racing is over the top for most.
And their love affair with Yao Ming and the NBA pretty much prevents anybody from caring about any other sport right now.
I can't comment about mainland China, but I have been working in Taiwan for the past 2 1/2 years. For the vast majority of riders here, as someone mentioned, bicycles are a means of transportation. Basically the only folks you usually see on bikes are school kids or the elderly who can't afford a car or never learned to drive. People don't see cycling as a recreation and as a fitness tool. This is really odd to me as Giant, based in Taipei, is the world's largest manufacturer. Many companies source some or all of their retail items here.
I've been fortunate to attend the last 3 Taipei Bicycle Expositions and there are a TON of smaller companies that make parts for others or under their own names. But, many many of the folks look like they have NEVER ridden their own products. In other words, it seems that a significant number of the people involved in the Taiwan bike business are not riders. They only see cycling as a business. Conversely, it seems that many of the people who started cycle-related business in the US are avid cyclists and/or former racers looking to stay in the field.
There is a 7 day Tour of Taiwan race. The final stage is a criterium around the City Government Building that is across the street from the Exposition. The Tour ends on the final day of the Exposition. I've watched the event for the last 2 years and the enthusiastic crowd is quite small (I'd guess maybe 300 to 400 as you can see better than half the course from any corner). The Tour featured the HealthNet-Maxxis Team from the US as well as several Asian and smaller European teams, but it seems it's just not enough to bring the people out.
I think the prevailing attitude towards cycling in Taiwan can be summed up by the following story:
When I first went to Taiwan, I didn't bring my mountain bike with me. After a month, I decided to buy a road bike. I was in Tainan at the time and there was only one guy who dealt in mid to high end bikes. I settled on a new Giant TCR-2 and we made a deal for about $1100US. A couple of weeks later, I happened to ride over to a popular expatriate hangout that I frequented. The bar maid, who was a local, said it was a very pretty bike and asked "...how much you pay?". I told her about $32,000NT. She said "Why did you buy bicycle? You could have a scooter for that much!"