In what seems like an eternity ago, and certainly looks like it in photos, Beijing used to be covered in bikes, with the odd car a tourist attraction. In 20 years this has changed somewhat, but some legacies remain: bike lanes segregated from the main roads are common on many streets which can make it a joy to cycle around the city. Others have a bus and cycle lane combined by the side of the road, though this is rarely useful as it is normally used for parking as well - either legally or illegally, there are few parking restrictions actively enforced.
Cyclists, like pedestrians, do not have right of way. The car does. Or so it seems. You need to have your wits about you, and you need to be brave to cross the road when you have a green light, particularly since a car probably is probably also turning across you. For those who have traveled overseas, you'll be aware that this is common across the world, but not in the UK, where (and it would be a left turn, since the UK drives on the other side) red means red and pedestrians do not have to worry about other traffic also being able to cross their path). And so pedestrians need to be brave and stick their necks out as they cross the road. Unfortunately it leads to a culture of pedestrians doing this all the time, whether they have a green man or not - and so they make things worse, blocking the road and causing a hazard. And of course the cyclist, or the e-cyclist may come zooming along at any time, because the color of a traffic light is irrelevant for him or her with a silent deathtrap.
When the wind blows, the typical cyclist hides. In Beijing you come out, fresh in the knowledge that the wind has brought fresh air with it. And after the rain, with fresh air all around and puddles on the floor, the cyclist can joyfully go wherever and stay dry. Increasingly there are cycling parks in office buildings and shopping malls (not least for the low-paid staff who work there and who need to park their bikes), and there are new bike renting schemes across town (several have failed in the past, but the latest seems to have survived though may not be that popular). And so bikes become less prone to theft. And as the traffic gets worse more people realize the speed of cycling is unrivaled.
Yet I was unable to cycle recently for almost a month. A difficult month, spent searching for taxis (whose price recently went up, finally, for the first time in 8 years), sitting on buses in traffic jams, and trying to squeeze on subways at rush hour. It was difficult. But now, with a new bike, I am back on the road again. And with me being on the road again comes Hannah, sitting on Andrea's bike, and we are more mobile and able to explore Beijing again.
At the weekend we went out, first to a shopping mall, since it was raining, where we found H&M had a sale on to someone's delight and Hannah tested out her recent interest in sitting down and refusing to walk with us where we want to go. Ahh, now she really does feel like a kid. Then we took Hannah to her first beer festival: 7 craft beer brewers were there along with some food options and a band, but it was a small affair. Quite the opposite of a British beer festival. This one had a kid's area set-up (complete with a bouncy castle), was held outside (since it's so warm), and was full of a young crowd. Hannah's taken a liking for beer recently, in a comical way. She doesn't really like it but sees us drinking it so grabs a spoon to dip in the beer and take some. Then she grimaces, but takes more!
There's a nice photo on facebook of her at the beer festival with two of her friends. She's the one standing on stage, lifting her shirt up to show off her belly to everyone. So actually, maybe there is one thing the beer festival had in common with a British one after all....
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