Shanghai District

Shanghai

Transportation

Sea of Bicycles

China has a massive number of bicycles and even “bicycle rush hours”. Consider Shanghai ... the people population is somewhere around 13 million. The active bicycle population has got to be at least 1/3 of that. That is lots of bicycles in such a confined area. Bicycles in various forms are critical to the Chinese economy. They are used by commuters, to haul construction materials and to deliver sofas to name just a few examples. The above photo shows “commuter bicycles” parked on the sidewalk. Most bicycles have their own built-in locking system that works like two fingers pinching through the rear wheel spokes ... great to prevent a “rolling” theft but not so good for the “carry away” kind. ‘Course, it’s a little hard to outrun the police with a bike on your back.

11-12-98