How I Get Around

My stay in Beijing has allowed me to sample the various ways that people in this city move themselves from point A to point B.

It’s been a bit of an adjustment – in Iowa I can drive to pretty much anywhere I need to be. This luxury is not so readily available in Beijing. Traffic is dense and loud, and laws (such as right of way and driving in the correct lane) seem to be optional.

Luckily, there’s a multitude of other choices. The bus system is pretty easy to locate; however, the signs explaining the routes (at least all I’ve seen) are all in Chinese, so I definitely wouldn’t be using them without a student guide with me. The subway/train (the part I rode was above ground) is a little easier to navigate. And when you exit the station, there’s a mob of drivers soliciting customers for their services, including motorbike taxis. I took one look at them, imagined myself balanced precariously while zooming through Beijing traffic, and thought “Hahahaha, noooo thank you!” Better off with a (clearly marked) cab.

The diversity in this city is truly amazing, and it applies to transportation as much as anything else – behemoth buses to taxi vans to mule-and-carts driven by farmers taking their fruit to market. But in Beijing the signature way to move is by bike. It’s fast, free, and, most importantly, small. Meaning you can swiftly dodge that bus that’s about to run you over. Whenever I embark on GOGBRAB (Gwen’s occasional great bike ride across Beijing) my usual mantra is “ohmygodohmygodohmygodOHMYGOD!” I much prefer pedaling around the comparatively quiet PKU campus.

Anyway, the bike racks are always crowded, and I’ll post some pictures of the ones on campus on flickr.

And I can’t fail to mention: I’m glad to have my tennis shoes with me, because sometimes the best option is on your own two feet!