Beijing Bicycle

The Story of You, Part 2.

Jay K.



[Welcome to the Bicycle World!]

Ep.24 Beijing Bicycle


Like the title of the last episode, this episode’s title is also coincidentally from a movie. I watched the movie Beijing Bicycle when I was in Berkley, in my Chinese class. I personally didn’t like the movie, but I have to say it is well-made. The movie is about a boy and his cherished bike in Beijing. If I remember correctly, the main story is something like the boy’s bike gets stolen and he tries to get it back. In the movie, it is well portrayed that a bicycle is one of bare necessities to survive in the city of Beijing.


I do like using public transportation. I took subway almost every day in Seoul and in Berkeley I regularly used AC transit. The public transportation system in Beijing is not bad too. However, the problem is there are too many people here. Too many! The public transportation here is really cheap and convenient, but just the level of crowdedness keeps me away from using it. There is no rush hour in China, because every hour is rush hour. Also, due to severe traffic jams, it takes a lot of time riding a bus or taxi to go anywhere. Imagine you get stuck in a traffic jam and at the same time you are in a super crowded bus—you know how annoying that is.



[Bicycles on my campus]



[A guy driving an eletronic bike, saying WTF?]



[During the summer]



[In Shanghai, Shanghai bikers]

After few days I first came to China, I decided to buy a bike. Before coming to China, I didn’t think that I would buy a bike here. However, China is a huge country. One block is so long that you need to walk and walk to get somewhere. If you want to take subway or bus, you still need to walk for a considerable amount of time.

It was really hot this summer, and I couldn’t stand walking streets of Beijing. It was humid, polluted, and hot. So I decided to buy a bike, but not a regular bike. It is a little embarrassing to say that I just learned how to bike during the summer of 2006, which means I can’t bike. The city of Beijing is not a good environment for one like me to bike. It is quite dangerous. There are so many people on streets. There are so many cars. And, there are also so many bikes! More importantly, there is no traffic law (to the American standard).



[The guy who sold my electronic bike checking my bike!]

I already told you guys how I first felt when I was coming from Beijing Airport to my school: Fast and Furious; Beijing Drift. I couldn’t imagine myself biking on the roads in Beijing. So I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to walk around the streets, but also I was afraid to bike. After first few days, I found out that there is a brilliant Chinese invention (along with gun powder and paper) that I didn’t know about before. It was an electric bike. It is like a motorcycle, but rather simple. You use electricity, so you don’t need to buy gas. You can just recharge it like how you recharge your cellphone. It seemed to me that riding an electronic bike is a lot easier than riding a regular bike, so even a person like me who is not good at biking can ride in Beijing.

Thus, I decided to buy an electric bike for my own sake. I thought I would feel much safer riding an electronic bike. I asked around and finally found a place that sold second-hand electronic bikes. I got one for 700 yuan which is around $100—it was originally 900 yuan, but I bargained.



[The very night I bought my electronic bike]


Although I bought an electronic bike, I didn’t dare thinking I would ride that on the actual road. I planned to ride it just on campus or very empty roads. I was really scared to go out to the roads. To me, the road outside of the campus was like a jungle: I believed that I would easily get killed.

Riding an electronic bike wasn’t as easy as I imagined too. I practiced every night on campus when there were no people. After practicing a week or so, I gained confidence and started to think: what if I go out to the jungle? I also thought it would be a waste if I didn’t ride it and use it more. I cannot forget the first day I went out with my electronic bike to the jungle. I rode it really slowly. I was scared by buses, cars, and even by pedestrians.









[The guy who fixes bikes on campus]

After few weeks, I became a puma or tiger (something likes that) of the jungle: There was no more fear in me. Now I go everywhere with my bike. From very faraway places to very close ones, I take my bike. There is no “walking distance” for me because I just bike everywhere. I don’t hesitate to ride on the roads with cars, and actually now I enjoy it. I enjoy also going against the current of traffic because it is very thrilling. I know I got to be more careful, because it is dangerous to bike in Beijing. I almost got killed few times, but luckily still alive.

One thing I realized is that a bicycle gives you freedom. I didn’t drive in the States so I didn’t know what driving a car feels like. Now I understand a little. I can go anywhere I wish. I don’t have to wait for people, bus, or anything. I like that part of riding a bike.

What I also realized is that there is actually an unspoken traffic law on the roads in China. I realized a set of rules that states what I can do and can’t do. The roads of Beijing first seem very frenetic and crazy, but actually everyone is so used to that messy traffic so they know what to do.



[This picture I took when I was on the bike]











[So cold!]




When I bike in the city, I feel like I am a true Beijinger. Beijing is truly bikers’ city. There are so many bikers on the roads. Also, there are so many masters of fixing bikes. There is an electronic bike shop near my school. I go there when my bike gets broken. I really get frustrated when my bike breaks because I cannot live without it. There was one time when I got really frustrated. The back wheel of my bike got broken badly that I thought there was no way to fix it. However, this magician, who is better than Harry, fixed my bike without any difficulty on the spot. I didn’t know that fixing a bike is a job that requires creativity. The repairman changed almost whole structure of my bike. He was really skilful. After looking at my bike’s broken back wheel for a second, he immediately thought of the solution. How many bikes would he have fixed in his life to know that? I was truly amazed by his magic.

[The biker carrying glasses]

I can say I am a good electronic biker. I am pretty good at it, and also good at taking people on the back of my bike. I provide comfortable rides to my customers. Some of you guys know that I am good at Mario Kart (I miss playing that), and I am using some of skills that I use in Mario Kart—of course, I am not using any super mushroom or mighty stars. When I feel depressed, I sometimes go out biking at night. I listen to my ipod and do “speeding”. You guys who are in the States will not understand how awesome riding an electronic bike is. It is really fun. I hope I can bring it back to Berkeley and ride it there.

This is it for today, and I hope I can upload the next one on the day of Christmas.

[My bike with newly bought gloves and Korean flag!]