Two wheels far better than four
By Chen Ye |
April 21, 2012, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
This is the season to get on a bike and explore Shanghai, nearby cities and even more distant destinations. Bicycling is healthy, low-carbon, a good way to see things up close and stop to explore.
"Travel on two wheels is more fun than a plane, train or car," says Wu Haobing who is now biking around China, plans to take a year and cover more than 25,000km. He is posting reports under his weibo name Silu_Youmuren (literally "silk road nomad").
The 36-year-old who runs a training company in Shanghai, who prefers to be called Silk Road, says expending physical energy to reach a destination really makes one appreciate the scenery. He is now in Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province.
He has taken many local trips to the Shanghai suburbs and other trips to Yellow Mountain in Anhui Province and Qiandao (Thousand Island) Lake near Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.
Hiking is also a good way to appreciate scenery but it takes longer; some people combine biking and hiking.
Although cycling is "green" and trendy, some Chinese people still think that only poor people ride bicycles in Shanghai. Locals use bicycles to carry just about everything, TVs, chairs, miscellaneous boxes and plants.
For decades, China was the nation of bicycles but now it seems everyone wants a car and discards their bike as low-status.
However, riding a bicycle doesn't always signify lack of means but is frequently chosen as a way to have fun.
"I don't think bicycling is for poor people. I met a lot of friends through cycling in Shanghai," says Stace Jamieson, a 39-year-old game art designer who cycles every week with his friend from Factory 5.
He got his first BMX at the year of eight, then he start BMXing, mountain biking, street mountain biking and racing. After coming to Shanghai he found out that many local prefer cycling tourism.
Factory 5 is a popular bike shop with a lot of foreign bicyclists living nearby on Jiangsu Road near Huashan Road. Chris Trees, good friend with Factory 5 guys, who runs own company which makes bamboo bikes and tricycles says cycling is an amazing way to explore the city.
Most foreigners in Shanghai prefer bikes as transport when possible because they avoid terrible traffic jams and crowds on the Metro.
Jan Harnisch, a 26-year-old German working for a logistics company, hates taking buses and refuses to ride the Metro at rush hour. His office is only 15 minutes from home by bike.
"A car normally takes me 45 minutes," Harnisch says.
His friend, a 38-year-old French who is identified as Florian, is his cycling buddy. They met at a party four years ago, hit it off and discovered they both enjoyed cycling around Shanghai.
Harnisch's colleague Suliko Menning, a 27-year-old German who cycles back at home, has been in Shanghai for only two weeks. Harnisch invited her to join a cycling trip organized by Factory 5. "I love this way to understand Shanghai," she says.
Menning and Harnisch work for the same logistics company at different branch offices and they prefer riding at night because some bars offer discounts to people with bikes. There's a different Shanghai to discover by night by bike.
Expats have a lot of company in college students who enjoy cycling tourism. Yan Xiaomeng, a 22- year-old student at the University of Shanghai for Science & Technology, is an officer of his college bike association and organizing cycling tours every weekends for classmates, graduate students and friends.
The association, set up in 2009, organizes trips for weekends, short holidays and summer vacation. On weekends they often ride to famous Shanghai attractions, for short holidays, like the upcoming May Day break, they will tour Hangzhou and Suzhou. On summer vacation they cycle as far as Xi'an in Shaanxi Province and Beijing.
In short, cycling tourism is fun, healthy and low-carbon, inexpensive and a way to get to know Shanghai and China close-up, stopping any time to explore.
Routes in downtown Shanghai
Wuning Road between Wulumuqi Road and the Inner Ring Road
Huaihai Road between Shaanxi Road S. and Hongqiao Road
Guangfu Road (along Suzhou Creek) between Changshu Road and Wusong Road
Haining Road between Xizang Road and Dalian Road
Here are some of the bike shops for repairs and purchases:
Factory 5
Shanghai's first boutique for bicycle repair, with design and many trendy items.
Address: 1/F, Bldg 2, 876 Jiangsu Rd
Speedcat
Truly a gear head's shop, this grungy store is located in the heart of downtown Shanghai with friendly service and various offerings, such as BMX bikes, basic run-around bikes and mountain bikes.
Address: 404 Xiangyang Rd S.
Specialized (Puxi)
Importing their products from the US East Coast, this shop covers almost every "high-end" road cyclists' needs. Everything from carbon to aluminum, it even has a few fixed-gear bikes and parts kicking around the shop.
Address: 221 Jianguo Rd near Jiashan Rd
Devil Bikes
Like other bike stores in Shanghai, Devil Bikes sells a wide array of folding bikes as their main source of income. What sets them apart are their high-end mountain bike parts and used classic Chinese road and track frames.
Address: 912 Jiangning Rd
From Tyler Bowa's People's Bike Blog (peoplesbike.com)
"Travel on two wheels is more fun than a plane, train or car," says Wu Haobing who is now biking around China, plans to take a year and cover more than 25,000km. He is posting reports under his weibo name Silu_Youmuren (literally "silk road nomad").
The 36-year-old who runs a training company in Shanghai, who prefers to be called Silk Road, says expending physical energy to reach a destination really makes one appreciate the scenery. He is now in Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province.
He has taken many local trips to the Shanghai suburbs and other trips to Yellow Mountain in Anhui Province and Qiandao (Thousand Island) Lake near Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.
Hiking is also a good way to appreciate scenery but it takes longer; some people combine biking and hiking.
Although cycling is "green" and trendy, some Chinese people still think that only poor people ride bicycles in Shanghai. Locals use bicycles to carry just about everything, TVs, chairs, miscellaneous boxes and plants.
For decades, China was the nation of bicycles but now it seems everyone wants a car and discards their bike as low-status.
However, riding a bicycle doesn't always signify lack of means but is frequently chosen as a way to have fun.
"I don't think bicycling is for poor people. I met a lot of friends through cycling in Shanghai," says Stace Jamieson, a 39-year-old game art designer who cycles every week with his friend from Factory 5.
He got his first BMX at the year of eight, then he start BMXing, mountain biking, street mountain biking and racing. After coming to Shanghai he found out that many local prefer cycling tourism.
Factory 5 is a popular bike shop with a lot of foreign bicyclists living nearby on Jiangsu Road near Huashan Road. Chris Trees, good friend with Factory 5 guys, who runs own company which makes bamboo bikes and tricycles says cycling is an amazing way to explore the city.
Most foreigners in Shanghai prefer bikes as transport when possible because they avoid terrible traffic jams and crowds on the Metro.
Jan Harnisch, a 26-year-old German working for a logistics company, hates taking buses and refuses to ride the Metro at rush hour. His office is only 15 minutes from home by bike.
"A car normally takes me 45 minutes," Harnisch says.
His friend, a 38-year-old French who is identified as Florian, is his cycling buddy. They met at a party four years ago, hit it off and discovered they both enjoyed cycling around Shanghai.
Harnisch's colleague Suliko Menning, a 27-year-old German who cycles back at home, has been in Shanghai for only two weeks. Harnisch invited her to join a cycling trip organized by Factory 5. "I love this way to understand Shanghai," she says.
Menning and Harnisch work for the same logistics company at different branch offices and they prefer riding at night because some bars offer discounts to people with bikes. There's a different Shanghai to discover by night by bike.
Expats have a lot of company in college students who enjoy cycling tourism. Yan Xiaomeng, a 22- year-old student at the University of Shanghai for Science & Technology, is an officer of his college bike association and organizing cycling tours every weekends for classmates, graduate students and friends.
The association, set up in 2009, organizes trips for weekends, short holidays and summer vacation. On weekends they often ride to famous Shanghai attractions, for short holidays, like the upcoming May Day break, they will tour Hangzhou and Suzhou. On summer vacation they cycle as far as Xi'an in Shaanxi Province and Beijing.
In short, cycling tourism is fun, healthy and low-carbon, inexpensive and a way to get to know Shanghai and China close-up, stopping any time to explore.
Routes in downtown Shanghai
Wuning Road between Wulumuqi Road and the Inner Ring Road
Huaihai Road between Shaanxi Road S. and Hongqiao Road
Guangfu Road (along Suzhou Creek) between Changshu Road and Wusong Road
Haining Road between Xizang Road and Dalian Road
Here are some of the bike shops for repairs and purchases:
Factory 5
Shanghai's first boutique for bicycle repair, with design and many trendy items.
Address: 1/F, Bldg 2, 876 Jiangsu Rd
Speedcat
Truly a gear head's shop, this grungy store is located in the heart of downtown Shanghai with friendly service and various offerings, such as BMX bikes, basic run-around bikes and mountain bikes.
Address: 404 Xiangyang Rd S.
Specialized (Puxi)
Importing their products from the US East Coast, this shop covers almost every "high-end" road cyclists' needs. Everything from carbon to aluminum, it even has a few fixed-gear bikes and parts kicking around the shop.
Address: 221 Jianguo Rd near Jiashan Rd
Devil Bikes
Like other bike stores in Shanghai, Devil Bikes sells a wide array of folding bikes as their main source of income. What sets them apart are their high-end mountain bike parts and used classic Chinese road and track frames.
Address: 912 Jiangning Rd
From Tyler Bowa's People's Bike Blog (peoplesbike.com)
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