Bicycles and the streets by kdoc13
What a strange, mysterious and beautiful place Beijing can be. It is a huge city full of modern skyscrapers and technology. But how strange is it to see in the heart of the downtown area people riding their bicycles in the streets. It could be that I am just an American who is not used to it....yeah that is probably it. But still, I can't imagine anyone in New York City, or London, or heck even Tokyo riding a bicycle in the middle of the busiest road, pulling a huge cart behind it, and no one complaining. Here it is just a natural part of life, and one I thought was great. It is very Chinese to see that. I was on the second ring road and even saw a guy pulling a cart behind some sort of mule (Will add that picture elsewhere). I love the idea of a taxi having to lag behind a guy pulling his cart on a bicycle and no one in the taxi being upset with the delay. It is just daily life, two people going about life in the way they do. It may be slow, but it works. And that is great, so much better than the rush of life in america.
But, bikes are everywhere and can even be rented through some hotels. If you are driving, they seem to have a sort of privilege on the roads, and get a lot of leeway from the drivers.