Vehicles Vs Bicycles
We don’t know exactly since when, as if all of a sudden, we find ourselves surrounded by various vehicles everywhere if I exaggerate a bit. However, we feel more difficult to go out; we spend longer time on road. Buses are always jammed
full and drive at a snail’s pace in downtown. To take a taxi would be more efficient, you may think. No, it is not always the case. Once I was unfortunately
in a taxi and was jammed somewhere in downtown, my heart ached as I was watching the figure on the meter still jumping!
We cannot forget that cold windy weekend two years ago. After the first snow full of the year, the ground was slightly powdered with snow and the roads were soon covered with a thin but firm crust of ice. Before long, transportation was at a standstill because many cars failed to drive on the upward slope of overpasses. The whole city was like a large parking lot. One of my friends was thus trapped in his car over 4 hours and spent an unforgettable weekend on road. Thanks for cell phone, many people were sending short messages to encourage each other, or telling jokes, or making fun to kill the time…
Beijing used to be a world famous bicycle kingdom. The cool shady side paths right under the street trees were specially for bicycles. It was really a grand sight of Beijing; just imagine seven million bicycles flooded on to streets during the rush hour… I saw many times that foreigners were shooting the scene at street corner with their tele-cameras. But now those bicycle lanes have been gradually occupied and squeezed by parking space, and by those right turning cars; bicycle riders have to shuttle among the cars under the blazing sunshine in summer. I simply cannot imagine what a mess it would be if seven million additional
cars instead of bicycles flooding on road during the rush hour!
On the contrary, as Chinese people are striking a blow for private cars, people
in western countries are now starting to change their life style and advocating
leading a simple but healthier life and not relying on cars so much. I heard people in Belgium, Denmark, Norway and Canada Quebec etc like bicycles very much and do lots of outdoor exercises, “it is good for health and good for environment as well”, they say.
As we rely more and more on cars; as we stay longer and longer in air-conditioned existence, we are losing the touch with the land and the rhythm of nature. The simple good things of life like sunshine, fresh air, birds chirping, insects singing are at a premium.
How I love the old city of Beijing – peaceful and spacious, cordial and harmonious; how I yearn for the tinkle of bicycle bells in early mornings；even the venders’ cries at streets were so dear to me … But now Beijing is losing its unique characteristic and becoming no difference with all large cities in the world
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