Posted by: Velomade
Re: Tell us how you think travel Beijing China by bike - 02/14/05 03:49 PM
Hello,
it is always a good idea to travel by bike not only inside China but for other countries too. By this means of transportation you will have a lot of contacts to the locals, because you will come through areas which you will never see if you are using busses and/or trains. For cycling inside China you have to know, that it can happen to get stoped by the police because you are cycling in closed areas. It must not happen but it can! If you have a good explanation for cycling in closed areas you can move on otherwise you are forced to take train or bus. But to be honest this does not happen often.
When I am in a big city like Shanghai, Beijing or Guangzhou (Canton) I prefer to use my bike to get around. For me it is more convenient than using the overcrowed busses and it is normally faster.
For a cyclist coming the first time to Beijing (othe cities too) he/she is very interested to know:
- what is the best way from the airport to downtown (can I use the Highway from the airport?)
- where are local bike-shops where staff speak at least basic english
- are there english/chinese streetmaps available
- which are the sightseeing spots
- is there any low-budget accomodation ( youth hostels, university accomodation, private accomodation)
Very helpful would be an english-chinese vocabulary specially for the need of cyclists (I never saw one!).
These are only a few thoughts from my side. My next visit to China will be in 2008 to the Olympics probably without bike staying outside of Beijing in the country-side.
Bernd
it is always a good idea to travel by bike not only inside China but for other countries too. By this means of transportation you will have a lot of contacts to the locals, because you will come through areas which you will never see if you are using busses and/or trains. For cycling inside China you have to know, that it can happen to get stoped by the police because you are cycling in closed areas. It must not happen but it can! If you have a good explanation for cycling in closed areas you can move on otherwise you are forced to take train or bus. But to be honest this does not happen often.
When I am in a big city like Shanghai, Beijing or Guangzhou (Canton) I prefer to use my bike to get around. For me it is more convenient than using the overcrowed busses and it is normally faster.
For a cyclist coming the first time to Beijing (othe cities too) he/she is very interested to know:
- what is the best way from the airport to downtown (can I use the Highway from the airport?)
- where are local bike-shops where staff speak at least basic english
- are there english/chinese streetmaps available
- which are the sightseeing spots
- is there any low-budget accomodation ( youth hostels, university accomodation, private accomodation)
Very helpful would be an english-chinese vocabulary specially for the need of cyclists (I never saw one!).
These are only a few thoughts from my side. My next visit to China will be in 2008 to the Olympics probably without bike staying outside of Beijing in the country-side.
Bernd