Since I am back in Beijing from Shanghai (December 1999), I am bike-less. My maid took over my run-down bike and it was promptly stolen. She learned her lesson, bought an even uglier one and painted it in an super-ugly white color. No more problems.
Anyway, how could I use one without having it promptly stolen, or being run over by a car, and without having parking lots in any of the places I usually go? Forget about biking lanes too, they don’t exist anymore (they are mostly for parking cars or worse). Cars are king.
Looooong time ago all hotels and buildings had bike parking lots with old ladies taking good care of them.
Of course some foreigners do pedal here but they don’t go to the Peninsula Hotel, Kerry Center, Hilton etc.
See here the e-mail I got from my friend Charles Rycroft on 23/11/2007 when he gave up to have a drink with me in the Centro Bar (Kerry Center), one of those networking events.
Of course, if you ride a bike you’re not good enough for Centro. Get lost, cheapskate, buy a BMW.
Charles:
Talk about the Kerry Centre not being bike-friendly– their bike-park is three levels down beneath street level and at the opposite end of the complex from the Centro Bar.
On arrival, I vainly attempted to lock my bike to various street-level lamp-posts/gates/fences in the immediate vicinity, but each time I was ordered down to the third tier of Hell by security goblins…
Not squash-bag-friendly either, as you witnessed, while my regular bag happened that night to be holding my expensive camera and most precious documents for myself and all the family. Not the best night therefore to sling the whole lot under a chair or table in a crowded bar… which you will agree was sound judgment although very poor planning although I DID at least get the dress-code right!
Tie and even grown-up shoes!
So many really good reasons therefore to give up on “the Networking” and make it back to the good old bike-n-bag friendly Kempinski, leading to your good self being the only person I “met” that evening, not counting the goblins of course.