Its sad seeing the, hopefully temporary, demise of the Chinese bike culture. Hopefully fuel costs will push sales down soon.

If not that, then China's aversion to sending money overseas might get them to tax fuel enough to make a difference.

z

Sorry for the Chinese, that ain't gonna happen. The vast majority of automobile owners in China are a very elite class. The price of fuel doesn't phase them one bit. They don't have private cars because they need it for transportation, like we do in the USA, Chinese elite have cars because they can afford it.

You could double or triple the cost of fuel in China and the people who are driving now - and the people who dream of automobile ownership would not change their driving lifestyle. Think of guys like George Bush or Dick Cheney driving around in Hummers. They don't give a crap what gasoline costs - that kind of worry is for the little people... and THAT is the mentality of the people in China who own automobiles.

That is why you see Chinese elite driving on the "bicycle only" boulevards. They truly believe that rules are for the little people - for the other guy. They don't care about getting tickets because they simply pay it - a kind of toll for driving on the "bicycle only" boulevards.

Its starting to get cold here now. This morning it was about 2 degrees C on my ride. There are not many bikes out and about now, and I bet the buses are full.

It difficult to start as I have to cross a main road about 200m from my apartment, and this means I need to wait, dressed for a few km down the road, and not yet warm.

Finding it tough to find a good gortex riding jacket, will keep looking. Need something for my ears too.

z

I do a 15 km RT commute in Shanghai most days

There are more cars on the road every day and semi-chaotic local traffic norms. I've seen more blood on the street in a few years here than in all of my years bicycling in the U.S. But this remains an amazingly bicycle friendly place to get around.

Car ownership has trickled beyond the elite. Some people are sensitive to gas prices, some are not. It's a big place. A lot of people. A lot of poverty still. Just like anywhere, most people are working people trying to figure out how to do well by themselves and their families. Generalizations don't work.

There are millions of American (and Europeans, Australians...), too, who could cycle or use public transport, but they don't. If they can afford a cager lifestyle, they go for it, and many of them look down their noses at cyclists and bus and train commuters.

Still biking in China, still loving it.

However I have lost part of my ride. I used to go south on the main road in town, but they are digging the middle of it up to put the subway in. As a consequence they have diverted four lanes of traffic on either side of the road into the two bike lanes on either side of the road. It is now an unpleasant 2 km.

I have now moved a little west to a road that is less pleasant than the original was, but more pleasant that it is now.

It doesnt look like they will be finished anytime soon. :(

z

It is interesting to read posts about China's bike culture, especially those with photos. I would agree that it is sad to see urban bike culture there diminishing and the use of private autos increasing. At least it sounds like mass transit is increasing in some cities as well. Although China and India's economies are still healthy, as the world-wide recession drags on one wonders whether the Communist leaders in China have any fear of the long-term affect on their economy (in conjunction with other rivals in Asia offering even cheaper workforces). Clearly, the recession has had some impact on the working poor in China, many of whom were laid off from low-paying city-based jobs and had to return to poor rural communities. I also wonder if the Communist Chinese leadership fear a growing chasm between the "haves" and "have-nots" in their country and are giving any serious consideration to developing more uniform workers rights, pushing for higher wages and the creation of social safety nets for the poor and elderly. It would be interesting to know if the super wealthy in China have positioned a good portion of their wealth abroad, remembering the impact of Mao's revolution on the wealthy and middle class of China (they lost their possessions and status almost overnight and I would think that the memory of the revolution must still live on with horror stories passed along orally within those families affected). It's clearly in China's best interest to develop within and not focus so much of their efforts on foreign exports. With living wages, Chinese workers can consume products and generate revenue that might not otherwise exist if foreign exports continue to fall.

ShenZhen, a city near Hong Kong was the early Special Economic Zone. Migrant workers flocked there for jobs. At the moment the factory owners are having problems getting workers. While the factories did lay off many, the government started spending U.S. debt they were holding. They started building infrastructure. This has given so many jobs that ShenZhen isnt the most attractive alternative to migrant workers.

12 months ago I counted 61 tall building construction cranes from the roof of my school. Some of them have moved to new patches of land. Its an amazing sight.

While much of the rest of the world struggles out of recession, China has been booming. It built up a lot of credit in the boom times, and spent it in the bust times.

So China should emerge in much better shape that it went in.

A poster from last year:

In 1949 only communism could save China.

In 1989 only China could save communism.

In 2002 only capitalism could save China.

In 2009 only China could save capitalism.


z

Hello everybody.

I have been living in China since August and plan to stay for another 2-3 years.

China is the world's largest car market. China is the world's largest car maker. The future of transportation in China, at least in the medium term, is the automobile.

I have a Giant OCR 3500 which I ride 3-4 days a week (weather permitting) and when in the city I try to avoid the bike lane like the plague - it is crowded with e-bikes (silent but deadly), and trikes (painfully slow and wide), regular bikes (slow) and pedestrians. I feel safer out with the cars, trucks and buses where I can ride at a pace on a par with the flow of traffic around me. I don't ride anywhere without a helmet and there are restrictions on the use of horns.

Road conditions in the city are generally acceptable. There are a few potholes and some ripples and quite a few ruts. There is also a limited amount of debris on the asphalt. Out in the countryside it is a different story. Traffic can be appalling - crazy overtaking attempts, boat horns on trucks and buses, crap EVERYWHERE - and I consider it to be more dangerous than city riding.

Wow, you're thinking of China a decade ago, and then projecting evil intent on the new middle class. For shame, Mike, for shame.

I thought I might post a couple more pictures of riding in China, this time some of the denizens of the bike lanes. While they are called bike lanes, they vary a lot. They may have any combination of: three wheeled things, both electric and pedal, cargo and passenger, two wheeled things, electric, pedal and at times petrol, pedestrians, buses, taxis, along with the occasional car, and pedestrians, with wheelchairs, prams, dogs, kids, etc.

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...duBikeLane.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...uDogonbike.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...ewithpipes.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...gduBusarea.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...hineseLady.jpg

z

Shanghai bike lanes are pretty much the same. You see some pretty crazy and amazing stuff as a bike commuter here. I've been commuting by electric scooter to the nearest subway station for the past couple of years to get to work, but I just bought a Giant FCR (3200RMB) to commute all the way to work at least a couple of days a week. My one-way commute is about 22km, but it's going to take a little longer than just a straight ride because there's a ferry crossing of the Huangpu River that I have to deal with - bikes aren't allowed on the bridges over or the tunnels under the river here in Shanghai. :(

Isn't ChengDu the old pre-WWI German colony?

Nah, the Germans didnt come here, it is way out west of China, just before Tibet.

The Germans were in TsingDao near Korea.

@The Chemist, there is no bike access to the bridges? That sucks!

z

Ahh, thanks. I had the spelling confused. It seems like a lot of places in the world that use non-Roman characters in their alphabets have spellings change over time: Peking = Beijeng, etc.