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Laura Zhou

Wu Jingshi's daily commute is an hour-long adventure through Beijing's notorious traffic, zigzagging between errant drivers using the city's bicycle lanes.
The cyclist recalls the days two decades ago when his ride to school was a smooth journey.
"Things have changed substantially," said Wu, who owns a small marketing company in Beijing. Today's traffic congestion and air pollution had ruined his ride, he said.
Wu is not alone in his complaints about the capital's deteriorating conditions for its cyclists.
China was once known as the "kingdom of bicycles". Photos from the 1980s show its roads crowded with people cycling as their main mode of transport.
"A bicycle was cherished because it meant mobility," said David Wang, founder of Bamboo Bicycles Beijing, a social enterprise that offers bike-building workshops.
Three decades on, there are still many bicycles around Beijing - but they are no longer being used. Rather, they are discarded in big rusty piles, or used to save a parking spot in the tiny alleys of the city's hutongs.
What was once a ubiquitous mode of transport has given way to a new status symbol: the car.
"It's now a social requirement in China to own a car," said Wang, who has done market research among Chinese youth for car companies.
"I went all over China interviewing Chinese youth. A lot of people would say, 'I'm definitely going to buy a car when I get older … because I want to get married or I want a promotion at work'."
Private car ownership in the country has skyrocketed over the years, especially in Beijing.
Last year, nationwide car ownership reached 154 million, according to the Ministry of Public Security. Beijing had 63 private cars for every 100 households, compared with the national average of 25.
In turn, the number of cyclists in the capital has plummeted, according to the Beijing Transport Research Centre. In 1986, bicycles made up 63 per cent of transport on the roads. Last year, they accounted for just 15 per cent.
"Nowadays, cycling is for the poor," Wu said.
Wang said one of his respondents told him he would have loved to cycle to work, but feared he would be barred from entering his fancy office building.
Although more people now saw cycling as a healthier and more sustainable mode of transport, Wang said, "the general sentiment is still that if you ride your bike to somewhere nice, you don't belong there."
In 2010, a woman on a popular Chinese television programme sparked heated debate on materialism nationwide when she said she would rather cry in a BMW than smile on a bike.
Cyclists are also marginalised on the road - Beijing has bicycle lanes, but they are often blatantly blocked by parked cars.
"There is no strict law enforcement to punish car owners for occupying bicycle lanes," Wu said.
Another problem is the lack of safe parking for cyclists.
"One thing Beijing could easily do is to provide subsidies for office buildings and hotels to build better bicycle parking facilities," Wang said.
To alleviate its notorious traffic congestion, Beijing in 2011 instituted a car lottery system - in which residents have to win the right to own a car - and in the following year, implemented a public bicycle-sharing programme. Under the bike-sharing programme, some 40,000 bicycles are made available for rent near subway and bus stations.
Increasing the bicycle's transport share on the roads could not be achieved simply by promoting the activity, said Doris Johnsen, of Dutch sustainability consultancy Ecofys.
"In a mega city like Beijing, the distances are so long that most people can't do their trips solely by bike," Johnsen said. "So you need to promote an overall sustainable transport system."
In May, Ecofys, together with Dutch consultancy Royal HaskoningDHV and the China Academy of Transportation Sciences, presented their "Beijing Bicycle Strategy and Policy".
They had studied Beijing's transport situation and developed a strategy to reverse its decline in bicycle use, submitting their recommendations to the municipal government and the Asian Development Bank, which is funding the project.
"Our vision for Beijing includes high-quality bicycle routes and parking facilities, upgrading and extending the public bicycle-sharing system, more trip destinations within bike-able distances, and integrating cycling with a high-quality public transport system for commuting," said Wim van der Wijk, team leader and bicycle transport expert at Royal HaskoningDHV.
"Our plan identifies the need for an institutional setting that recognises cycling as an integral part of urban transport planning, with high-level officials promoting cycling with enthusiasm."
Whether the municipal government would take on the recommendations remained uncertain, Johnsen said. There had not yet been any direct discussions between the municipality and the consortium, she said.
The municipal government and its transport commission did not respond to the South China Morning Post's request for comment.
There is hope for Beijing's cyclists, however, as change is already in the air.
Wang said that while cycling used to be purely functional, people these days tended to see it as a lifestyle or leisure activity. Those born in the 1990s, especially, were keen on creating new culture and communities, he said.
"A bicycle is now becoming a symbol of who you are as an individual, what values you espouse and what kind of style you prefer," Wang said.
Beijing did still have a cycling culture, even if it had evolved over the years, he added.
And perhaps Wu would one day be able to cycle to work just as smoothly as he had 20 years ago.
Additional reporting by Laura Zhou


Coming full cycle in China: Beijing pedallers try to restore 'kingdom of bicycles' amid traffic, pollution woes

Cycling was once a primary mode of transport in China. Photo: EPA

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Consortium suggests plan to reverse declining bicycle use and improve its 'transport for poor' image


Coming full cycle in China: Beijing pedallers try to restore 'kingdom of bicycles' amid traffic, pollution woes

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Consortium suggests plan to reverse declining bicycle use and improve its 'transport for poor' image

Consortium suggests plan to reverse declining bicycle use and improve its 'transport for poor' image