purchasing a bicycle near BLCU

[jinnyjin03]

Hi -

I would love to get a bicycle I can use for the next 5 months... I see them all over the place but I have no idea where to go buy a used one. Advice?

J

p.s. do people lock their bikes? back home I used to lock mine with a chain and a u-lock, but here people seem to either leave it unlocked or hastily tied up...

[againstwind]

Ask those bike merchant, they will tell you where you can get a used one. Have you been to the alley to the south of the police station? or the opposite of Chaoshifa supermarket?

do people lock their bikes?

Yes, of course, though their bikes will be stolen sooner or later.

If you did make a decision to buy a bike, no matter totally new or second-hand, in Beijing, you'd better make preparation of losing it.

Good luck.

[smalldog]

A couple of years ago there were several second hand bike places on the road that runs just to the east of line 13, about 1 km north of Wudaokou station. I expect they're still there.

If you use a normal lock you can expect to have a bike stolen every few months. Investing in a hefty lock will certainly pay off.

[Lu]

I don't know any used bike shops, but there are (ok, were, when I lived there) shops with cheap new bikes (100-200 kuai) on the corner of Chengfu lu and Xueyuan lu.

As has been said, do lock it or it will be stolen, and actually it probably will be stolen anyway. Get at least two locks, and try not to buy a bike that looks too good. Another problem with locks is that your key opens not only your lock, but a lot of other locks as well.

[hunxue]

The general attitude among foreigners and locals alike seems to be that all bikes will be stolen at some point no matter what. I guess this is true to some extent. I had two bikes stolen in three months and my Chinese roommates have had similar experiences. Well, I got tired of riding crappy bikes and having them stolen and I refuse to accept bike theft as a normal part of Chinese life, so I ordered some heavy locks from a company in Shanghai to protect the brand new GIANT bike I bought. I've been warned that new, relatively expensive bikes will most definitely be stolen sooner than later, but I intend to prove them wrong.

My main lock is a four kilogram chain that makes cable locks look like dental floss. It's a pain lugging the thing around so I usually leave that one on campus and use the U-lock at home. Even so, no lock will prevent someone from just picking your bike up and walking off with it unless it's secured to a fixed object. If your lock can't be defeated quickly by a pick or a pair of heavy shears and is locked to something immovable, the thief will surely move on to an easier target. You don't need to go overkill like I did, but it certainly can't hurt.

[onebir]

the bike repair (修车) guys should be able to tell you where the nearest place to get a secondhand bike is. if you get really stuck, there's a couple of second hand shops that have bikes - on opposite sides of the street - on the southern continuation of yonghegong da jie (永和宫大街), about 50m south of dongzhimen nei (东直门内). they seem to run from about RMB100 up.

carrefour has new bikes for about the same, but my friends started falling apart - even before it was stolen...

for an RMB100-200 bike you can get a lock that's chunky enough to put off thieves for about RMB30.

[adrianlondon]

I spent quite a lot on my bike (by Chinese standards) and bought a brand new Giant bike for 800RMB. It's just a normal "sit up and beg" city bike, so looks like all the others.

Why the high price tag? Well, it has hub gears (yes, gears! Watch me go) and a year's guarantee. I bought two locks (total 100RMB) from Carrefour of all places, as I wasn't going to buy the locks from the same place I bought my bike (crafty shop owners might just steal your bike back).

In the 5 months I had the bike, I never had it stolen or, as far as I'm aware, any attempts on it. I always locked it to something.

I sold the bike a few weeks ago for 400RMB.

[Dreamer]

i know for sure u can buy bicycles bikes etc in Ba Jia...which is like......ermmmmm..reallly near Wudaokou...dont know how 2 explain it properly but i will try!...say u are coming from BLCU towards the train station...at the traffic lights pass the train station directly, turn right, go down the road untill u reach another set of traffic lights turn right and theire will be another road that goes diagonally across the train tracks, folloow the road and then it will lead u to the bikes!!!!!! they all on the side of the road...hope that helps! if u can understand! hahaha

[Koneko]

I bought a bicycle back in 2001 while travelling in Suzhou.

The shop owner didn't tell me that I actually had to register with local police.

Not sure if you still need to register with them these days. Worth checking...

K.

[bianfuxia]

Smalldog and Dreamer are right - that street has plenty of bike shops. I bought a second hand one there early last year (got stolen) and a replacement later in the year.

I think it is called Shuangqing Lu. It connects to Qing Hua Dong Lu and the best way to reach it is as Dreamer describes. Head north from the WDK subway station, turn right at the lights, go under the bridge and over the train tracks, then keep going north (past the 2 big grey towers on your right.

Ask around for er shou (2nd hand) bikes. I got one for less than 100, and the better one I got was about 120. You can get locks there too. There's about 5 or 6 little stores, if not more.

[jinnyjin03]

I got my bike from the street that runs diagnal from the wudaokou area (100 kuai), and I have been much more mobile ever since. Thank you all for the great advice. I also picked up a very hefty lock as all suggested.

another question: has anyone biked from Wudaokou to Summer Palace? I am thinking about biking over there when the weather warms up, and it would be great to hear from people who've tried.. or anyone interested coming with me?

Jin

[smalldog]

Err, cycling to the Summer Palace isn't that adventurous -- it only takes about 30 minutes! There are some great places to cycle around Beijing but unfortunately it takes at least an hour to get away from the city traffic. The Great Wall at Huanghua makes a good day trip on a decent bike (with gears!) or a weekend trip on a 100 kuai bike (just push your bike up the hills and freewheel down the other side).

[Lu]

I've biked from Wudaokou to the Summer Palace. As smalldog says, it's not that adventurous, and not hard to find either, as I recall. But you're right that it might be wise to wait until the weather gets a bit warmer.

Enjoy!

[bianfuxia]

There's a nice way to get to the Summer Palace that keeps you off the main roads. Most of the route is along a (relatively) nice canal and you also go through a hutong community.

Go back to the road you bought the bike on - Shuangqing Lu - and keep following it North.

After a bit, you'll see that the main road veers off to the right and a kind of sub-road keeps going straight ahead. That's the way to go. It's maybe a kilometre or so north of where Shuangqing Lu joined onto Lin Da Bei Lu.

Follow this and you'll go under the 5th ring road. Keep following the road north (it winds a little through the hutong but is very obvious which way to follow).

Soon enough you'll get to the canal. Head left along the canal on either the south or north side - there are bike paths both sides.

After maybe 5 km or so you'll need to head back south. You'll know when the time comes because the canal itself veers south because it flows into the big lake at the Summer Palace itself. You might need to mess around a bit finding the right way but it isn't too hard and if you ask around someone can point you the right way. Take a map too - the standard tourist map of Beijing has enough detail.

This canal route can also get you out to the Fragrant Hills if you get onto Xiangshan Lu around the point where the river heads south towards the Palace.

It's alot nicer in my opinion than following the main traffic route out there. Might take a little longer but it's more pleasant and less chance of getting run over!

Enjoy!

[smalldog]

I've cycled most of bianfuxia's route and definitely recommend it.

As an interesting diversion from the Summer Palace to Xiangshan: instead of taking Xiangshan Lu, head south and then west around the south of Yuquanshan (玉泉山). It's an odd place with very high security but no sign of what's going on in there. Information on the place is very scarce but a couple of news reports suggest it's the base of the Central Military Commission and that Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao live there. (This is probably a state secret -- hope you don't mind, Roddy!) (sh)