Living in Rural Beijing

[imron]

16 minutes ago, Jim said:

ETA I see it says Huanghua on your pic too, doh!

I wasn't going to mention it, but yeah, it does

[imron]

Well, I went hunting to see if I could find the pic mentioned previously but didn't come up with anything - I do however have some pics of the same part of the wall a few years prior to those other photos to give you an idea of what it was like before the renovations (low resolution scans unfortunately because that's how things were done back then).

 

[DavyJonesLocker]

Given we have a specific topic on this, I'd just add that I would encourage foreigners to keep an open mind living further away from central beijing. I much prefer living further out now than when i was living near the center.  I wish i came our here at the start but when i first moved to BJ I didn't even think it was pausable.  Naturally there are pros and cons but transport is a lot better now especially with bike rental schemes, didi, the fast bus service.  Even if I go to meet friends for a drink etc I am home with 30mins by didi and I'm out past the 5th ring road. Also if you are a learner of chinese , its an opportune time to do anki on the subway journey. A scooter or motorbike is a godsend when your a little out. 

 

 

 

 

[mungouk]

@DavyJonesLocker whereabouts are you beyond the 5th ring road?

I've just accepted a job in Chaoyang (I think the office is just outside the 5th) and am trying to weigh up the options for where to look for an apartment.

 

30 mins to get home sounds great... looking at maps I'm still trying to understand the scale of Beijing.

 

I had been hoping to get an electric scooter/moped but read somewhere recently that the BJ govt is introducing a requirement for licenses and speed restrictions on e-bikes, do you know anything about that? 

 

Would I need to get a Chinese driving license (passing a test?) just to ride one?  I'm not interested in driving a car.

 

 

[DavyJonesLocker]

yizhuang town.  Its pretty upmarket around here with and lots of parks. A bit like your yuppee professional couples area. The buildings are all fairly new and decent standard. I travel several times to central beijing, tongzhou every week and to pingguoyuan (a 90km round trip) on my motorbike.  I regularly go to chaoyang. The 5th ring road is not as full as the 4th and in anycase  on a motorbike you stick in the hard shoulder and skip all the traffic.   From my place to guomao is about 40mins 

Yes you are right about the licensing coming it.  I think it's already in but just being ignored for now. Looking at this  it seems to be so. This is for new bikes only.
There is a 3 years grace period on current ebikes, so you could buy a 2nd hand one. However when I asked my Chinese friends  there was a lot of derision about it,  fining for parking in the wrong spot, driving in cycle lanes, foot paths , no license etc. Well one trip in Beijing and you will see it's just ignored. In any case every 快递 would be fined every 15 mins if that is the case. Most probably don't have a licence

 

That's not suggesting to flaunt the law, more to show the reality of the situation. I think it will a long time being implemented and years before taken seriously given the sheer amount of people that use them. For example: You are not supposed to drive a bike on the ring roads but I am others have done it hundreds of times, driving past police cars. I have many times been waved past by police in security checks, accidents on the ring roads. If you have a bike in good order are wearing a helmet and licence plate not concealed you will be fine 

 

As regards licensing, yes you need a chinese driving licence to drive a petrol powered bike. If you have a UK bike license its just a matter of a written test in English. 2 or 3 days prep and you will pass no issues. Very easy to do and most of the questions are almost daft. Buying a petrol powered bike is a simple matter too. 

 

However, if you are in Chaoyang then plenty of options and you wouldn't need to use the ring roads, so an ebike might be better for you.