Ding, Ding! Beijing From The Seat of A Bike (Encore)
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This message comes from Progressive and its Name Your Price tool. Say how much you want to pay for car insurance and they'll show coverage options within your budget. Visit Progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. Today on State of the World, exploring hidden pockets of Beijing by bike, where a new generation is discovering the city's legacy of cycling.

You're listening to State of the World from NPR, the day's most vital international stories up close where they're happening. I'm Christine Arismith. Once known for its legions of bicycles, cars now clog Beijing's main roads. In fact, China is the world's largest car market with some of the worst traffic.

But what of Beijing's alleys and side streets? There, a bike is just the way to catch small glimpses of life in this massive city. NPR's John Ruich takes us along for the ride. OK, first things first. 32-year-old Zhang Yuchen shows me how to unfold a folding bike. The seat post and handlebars go up, front wheel pivots out, back wheel clicks into place.

And we're ready to ride. Zhang is part of a bike club for enthusiasts of Brompton bicycles. It's a British brand of commuter bikes that fold down to the size of carry-on luggage. They're functional, if a little quirky. We meet up with about 20 other club members in a small square between the Imperial Bell and Drum Towers, north of the Forbidden City. The ride leader takes names off a list, and then we set off.

So today's ride is like a 20-kilometer bike ride, basically through the alleys of Beijing. This ride is strictly for fun. It's a holiday. But Zhang says he turned to biking out of frustration with Beijing's horrible rush hour traffic.

Biking has cut his commute time in half, he says, and it's given him something else. I can say that while cycling, I feel integrated into the city. I become a part of the environment. In contrast, sitting in a car feels more like being a spectator because I'm not actively engaging with the city around me. A few minutes into the ride, I ask how it's going. Is it fun?

It's pretty satisfying, he says. There's sunlight, there's shade, it's not very noisy. He's clearly in his element. If you want to understand Beijing's alleys, he says, riding a bike is a pretty good way to do it.

Cruising some of the capital's oldest neighborhoods is also a reminder of a time when China used to be called the Kingdom of Bicycles in the 1980s and 90s, before anyone could afford a car. By one account in the New York Times, the government in the late 80s estimated that 76% of road space in Beijing was occupied by cyclists. That era is long gone. Slowing down to a crawl and now getting off of the bike to walk by a car. These alleys are really narrow, so we're going to squeeze by.

There are still bikes in Chinese cities, of course. Higher bikes litter the sidewalks and can be rented for a few cents a ride. But the administrator of this bike club, Xiao Xiao, says interest in serious bikes is growing. Many people ask about my bike all the time.

Some even mistake it for a wheelchair when it's folded up because it is kind of similar. She says membership in her club has nearly doubled over the past year to about 700 people. The main goal is to ensure that everyone has fun.

and enjoy spending time together. This club is for owners of specific Brompton models. There's a proliferation of clubs for the other models, too, and about every other bike you can think of. Time to make a right turn. People are putting their right arms out, and we're going to make a right turn.

Down a smaller alley. Here we go. In these alleys, there are people playing mahjong, selling snacks, hanging laundry. I saw a man getting his hair dyed and a Buddhist monk texting someone. On a bike, the sights, sounds, and surprises of Beijing are all around. I saw a man in a Scottish kilt here on the, in one of these alleys. That was not on my bingo card.

The afternoon shadows grow longer, and the ride ends back where it started. The riders line up their bikes in a neat row and stand behind them for an obligatory group photo. In a few days, they'll ride again, taking a route that Xiaoxiao says is laid out in the shape of a giant birthday cake. It's the second anniversary of the club, she says, and that's something worth celebrating. See you next time.

Bye-bye. John Rewich, NPR News, Beijing. That's the state of the world from NPR. If you appreciate this kind of on-the-ground or on-the-bike reporting from around the world, please consider supporting us by joining NPR+. It's a small monthly donation that supports our nonprofit journalism. Go to plus.npr.org to sign up. That's plus.npr.org.

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