Getting Around Beijing

According to something I read somewhere before I came here (do you like the accuracy of my citation?), there are more bicycles in Beijing than cars. I do not for certain if that is true. I do know the absolute number of cars and the number of cars per capita has been increasing for years. One of the ways the Beijing government tries to discourage car ownership is with car license plates. The number on the plate determines which days of the week the car can be on the street. It is something like this: If your license plate starts with A you can drive your car only Mon, Wed, Fri, if it starts with B you can drive Tue, Thu, Sat. The system is a lot more complicated but that's the basics.

Certainly if the term "bicycle" in the census figure I read means any vehicle with two or three wheels there are certainly many more of them than cars. And there are many parts of the city where a car cannot go but two and three wheeled transport can. There are both human powered and motorized two and three wheel vehicles. I have even seen a couple of funky three wheeled cars, I don't know how they are classified. Two wheeled vehicles include pedal bikes, mopeds (motor assisted bikes), electric bikes, scooters and motorcyles. Three wheeled vehicles include pedal trikes and powered trikes. Some of the bikes and trikes look as if they predate the cultural revolution and were possibly built during the first or second Five Year Plans. I took a good look at the drive setup on an old powered trike this afternoon. It is very very simply: the battery drives the motor (which only goes around, no fancy gearing, transmission or differential), the motor has a pulley which holds a belt running to the back axle. What could go wrong that could not be fixed either with a replacement or a quick welding job?

Some of the three wheeled trikes are essentially powered rickshaws: people carriers, taxis from an earlier age. One person drives and gets paid, one or two or more sit on a bench seat behind the driver and enjoy the ride. Most three wheeled trikes are the pickup and delivery trucks for much of the city. I have seen immense loads of plastic on these trikes, as well as sheets of plywood and drywall and other contruction materials. They carry workers and their tools to and from job sites. They deliver anything that fits in or can be tied to the open area behind the driver. They are also used to transport families from place to place and pick up the groceries for dinner. Throughout the city there are reserved bike / trike lanes (also used by pedestrians and by buses and taxis from time to time). Anyone in a bike lane has the moral right apparently to ignore almost all traffic signs and signals. And that is why I am telling you about these various vehicles that are not cars. You have to be aware of them any time you walk anywhere. If not you will cause an accident -- and then you will pay.

I have talked about the subway system here more than once. It really is a great system. All route maps are in Chinese and English. There are route maps in the ticket areas, on the platforms and maps with little lights in them over the inside of every subway car door. The lights indicate each station as the train follows its route. If you know where you are going, it only takes one station to figure out if you are going toward or away from your destination. The lines are well linked together. It is easy to transfer from one line to another, easy but not always fast. Some of the transfers require considerable hiking and stair climbing. I think the city government wants everyone to have strong legs. However the signs for exits and for transfer directions are very easy to follow, again in both English and Chinese. As I write, a ride on the subway, any station to any other station, unlimited transfers, costs Y2. Do yourself and your bank balance a favour if you visit Beijing. Get a Beijing Transit Card, dump some money into it and enjoy the ride. If you use up your first amount, put some more on. I don't think you can get the leftover money back so give the card to someone else when you leave Beijing. You can also use the Transit Card on city buses although most foreigners avoid buses. I have been on one bus ride so far. It was Y2 for over an hour of travel. The ride was safe, clean, odour-free and everyone had a seat. Crowding on city buses, especially during working hours is significant, but that is true in every city I have been in.