Peking cyclists take ‘drag on’

Press, 30 April 1988, Page 28

Peking cyclists take ‘drag on’

By

TIM DONOGHUE

of NZPA

Peking The prospect of hiring a bicycle is daunting as you look out the window of a Peking taxi at the sea of cyclists. But. by forfeiting your passport for a day and paying a mere 50 cents, you can take in the sights by going with the flow.

The experience does have its limitations, such as when a cyclist in front decides to split defiantly into the dust from the Gobi.

In spite of these problems even the resident disgruntled reporters and diplomats cannot help but be impressed by the variety of engineering derivations which can be applied to the humble twowheeler.

Pekingers move house and sleep on the wooden trays of three-wheeler bicycles, ferry children in aluminium sidecars, push and pull the elderly in wheelchair concoctions and generally create a nightmare for drivers. However, the recent completion of the "Peking dragon," the city’s circular underground railway, has resulted in an increasing number of cyclists abandoning their traditional mode of transporta-

tion. During peak hours there is one train every four minutes and the system carries about 250,000 people a day. The opening of the circular route has made the underground a popular means of for young tourists who find taxi fares beyond their means. The floors of the trains are Uttered with coloured canvas bags but outside peak hours at least it still beats trying to use the perpetually overstuffed Peking bus.

To survive on the bus it is a case of hanging on to your money and doing your best to stay upright. If there is one thing harder than getting on a Peking bus it is getting off. A method sometimes used by desperate locals caught up in the transport horror show involves jumping out the windows.

The one consolation of Peking buses is that in the cold autumn and winter months, they are always cosy.

Many travellers make a point of adopting local customs at least once during a visit, even if they do appear risky. A Peking bus stop puts this adventurous philosophy to the test