Beijing By Bicycle

Ok, so I realize I was really cranky in my last post about Beijing - I was much too tough on this mammouth city. What changed my mind you ask? Spending the day on a bicycle cruising around the city for hours.




I think Beijing's size alone made the city seem really daunting. It's much more accessable on two wheels. So Amanda and I spent the day riding the roads. First off, I'm amazed that every single street in this city has a bike path - freeways and side roads. It's been years since I rode a bike, but I certainly couldn't imagine a bike lane that stretched across the Inland Empire down 91, or even a bike path that connected 394 and 494 in the Twin Cities. Amanda and I were not alone on the bike paths - thousands of bikers take the path everyday. So it was great to cover so much ground in such a short amount of time.




In addition, we decided to zig zag through the city down several hutongs - narrow alleyways that make up the old city of Beijing. I think this was a personal highlight. Unfortunatly, many of Beijing's hutongs are being destroyed to build bigger, better modern buildings - it's such a shame. It sounds almost American.