Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
your path without warning and without looking, often with a mobile phone in their hand.
Ninety-nine percent of people don't wear helmets either. If you buck this trend, however,
and ride with a good measure of defensiveness, it's relatively safe.
You can easily pick up a secondhand bicycle for around RMB100 if you're not fussy
about style, or a new bike from large supermarkets, such as Walmart and Carrefour, for
around RMB250-500. Such places even sell electric bikes.
Road bikes and fixed-gear bikes are now the trend, so you'll find an ever-greater variety
of these bikes on sale around town, and while high-level European brands are yet to make
a showing, brands such as Giant and Dahon are everywhere. Different frame sizes are diffi-
cult to find, so if you're particularly short or tall you may want to bring a bike from home,
or opt for something from a store such as Decathlon, which reports to stock frames as large
as 65 centimeters (26 inches). For a custom-made bikes, try Natooke (
http://natooke.com
)
on Wudaoying Hutong near Lama Temple or Serk cycling (
www.serk.cc
) near Beixinqiao
subway station (Line 5).
