One thing I noticed in Beijing was the dire taxi situation. We had it all: no available taxis, taxis that would decide not to take you once they realised where you wanted to go, taxis that changed their meter reading, taxis that claimed their meters were “broken”…
I don’t know if this is a common thing in Beijing or only obvious tourists like ourselves are victims but it’s a good thing the public transportation network is well-connected.
And…
It means there’s lots of bicycles!
There’s still plenty of cyclists here in Ningbo (especially in my area as it’s the education district and there’s tons of school and university students) but generally it seems that e-bikes (and to a lesser extent, cars) are slowly taking over.
So, here’s a little picture ode to the awesome bikes I saw whilst strolling amongst the huotongs. I threw in a pink Winnie The Poo e-bike in there as well , for a bit of fun!
Ningbo Nights 
Die deutsche TAGESSCHAU liest wohl auch deinen Blog. Das kam gestern in den Nachrichten!!!
http://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/china1500.html
Gruß. Papa
(My apologies to those struggling with the German language, but the news item about thoughts of how to revive Beijing’s once thriving bicycle culture appeared on a German news channel.)
interessanter artikel! in shanghai sieht man die hippen fahrraeder en masse, super schnieke and suuuuuper teuer! und ganz ungefaehrlich ist es auch nicht im hiesigen verkehr mit ‘nem fahrrad unterwegs zu sein!
I’m sorry to hear you had such a bad time with taxi drivers in Beijing. I probably had one of the best taxi drivers ever when I was in Beijing (even better than all my local drivers who hit on me & ask me to marry them… I know, I didn’t think it could be better than that!). Anyway, I totally gave him the wrong address for the hostel. When we got to where the address said I needed to go, he was like, “This can’t be right” and he wouldn’t let me out of the taxi. Then he called the hostel & took me to where I needed to be. He charged me only half of the fare even though I had been a total idiot. I loved that guy. And I totally would have married him if he had asked.
Omigod. I love that Winnie the Pooh ebike. And now I really want it.
Wow!! I definately only had his evil cousins! And I’m definately lacking your Unbrave charms that seem to drive taxi drivers wild with desire, haha!