Commuting

Mornings come pretty early here in Beijing... at least they do when you have class at 8 am and have to bike from your apartment to campus. I live about 15-20 minutes away from campus by bike, which I suppose evens out to about 2 miles give or take. I've really come to love biking to class, but everytime I venture out onto the streets, I'm taking my life into my own hands. Nothing gives you an adrenaline rush quite like biking in Beijing, especially when you have to cross two major intersections. To give you some sort of an idea of what I'm talking about, here is a short play-by-play of a typical morning commute:

7:19 am Leave apartment
7:23 Retrieve bike from the bowels of apartment building. Make sure to say hello to the bike lady who guards tenants' bikes like a rotweiler. Select playlist on ipod for listening pleasure, usually AC/DC or the Allman Brothers.
7:25 Turn onto Xueyuan Lu towards campus. Careful when merging to avoid the throngs of bicycles carrying school kids, furniture, propane tanks, trash, giant stuffed crocodiles, and just about anything else you thought you'd never see on a bike. Pass the Chaoshifa (supermarket) and the truck that delivers sweet potatoes.
7:27 Cross the entrance to the Agricultural Sciences Academy. Weave in-between cars waiting for the light. Have a close encounter with the front bumper of a taxi. Almost hit a man walking a Bichon Frise (who is wearing red booties).
7:28 Hit a pothole. Stop to fix the bike chain that is now sadly dangling from the bottom of the bike.
7:29 Wipe greasy fingers on nearest available clean surface (read: jeans). Resume biking.
7:30 Almost wipe out on a car door that out of nowhere has swung open.
7:31 Cross major intersection, always watching for cars making left-hand turns. It pays to wait for the light.
7:33 Hit another pothole. Fix bike chain. Resume journey.
7:36 Cross Xisanhuan Road.
7:38 Enter Bei Wai via the west gate. Furiously ring bell to get through the throng of students on their way to class. Play chicken with a car. Car wins.
7:39 Arrive at IES Building. Lock bike (using two locks).


(Photo courtesy of China Chas)



(Photo courtesy of... I forget)