Bike or car? Think twice (Shanghai Daily)

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=302754&type=Feature

Ah, the bicycle. Is it going the way of, well, the bicycle? The humble bike, once an emblem of China, ubiquitous, iconic, demanded by brides as part of their dowries - along with a sewing machine, a watch and a radio - sadly seems old-fashioned to many urbanites, write Song Mo and Wen Chihua.

Standing atop a stool clamped to a bicycle rack in her long white wedding gown, the giggling bride clasped her bouquet of white roses as the bridegroom pedaled frantically down Huayuan Road in Beijing's Haidian District to the reception restaurant.

"This is the way we like it. I'll never regret this," Fan Xiaoping told The Beijing News.

"It's really romantic to have our wedding ceremony this way," Fan's husband Jiang Yang, a doctoral student at Peking University, said.

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Aside from the obvious benefit of not using fuel, they're a lot cheaper than cars. That will also be a big deal, as everybody becomes gradually poorer.

"I want to buy an electric bicycle to deliver and pick up my son from school. It's less of a headache and quicker," says the 34-year-old mother. "It takes only 10 minutes by electric bicycle, but a half-hour drive in the Beijing traffic."

Since I'm too dilapidated to get far on my bike, I got an electric scooter about 4 years ago. I use it for short hops for shopping and errands. I ride it where I used to ride my bike, on secondary roads. It's a great deal for those of us who live in cities and can't bike, for one reason or another.

I hope China subsidizes those things. They'll still need juice to charge up the batteries, but not that much juice. Mine pulls a whopping 24 watts at full charge.

More and more models are coming out all the time and they're increasing range and speed. I think it's a great alternative for urban driving.

I see him riding it everywhere...and it's probably a cooler commute in the summer heat than an regular bike.

because even when it's in the high 90s, I arrive comfortably dry instead of bathed in sweat and ready to pass out.

This may be China's salvation. I know they can't support half a billion cars, nor can the planet.

recumbent bikes. I say brave because they're even less noticeable in traffic than regular bikes are.

If I were healthy enough to manage it, I might look into it for winter errands, but I'm not, so it's the electric scooter for me.

There are bicycles out there with an electric assist, but they're still very expensive.

Trust me. It's NOT in your long-term best interests.