Our favourite way to travel through the city is definitely by bike. Shanghai is a city built for bikes- it’s terrain is flat and has wide roads with designated cycle lanes.
The main challenge is avoiding the over zealous cyclists and the ‘Kuaidi’ (said kw-eye-dee) delivery men and women who are on a mission against the clock and numerous requests all over the city. The other obstacles barring the very occasional pot-holes, are the pedestrians! Basically expect the unexpected movements of people (as well as cars and bikes) who may step right in front of you without doing the basics of the looking left and right! So the moral of the story is to look, and look again, followed by another look!
Other than that, in the autumn, spring and summer (sometimes winter if you can bare it’ll the wind chill) traveling ‘freely’ is super fun!
Last year we got E-bikes and finally joined the club of the many millions across China who use electric bikes. You will find many charging points that are quick and simple to use. It’s an easy way to get from A to B. Last year in 2021 it became mandatory for all E-bikers to wear a helmet which is a welcome rule change and sure saves many lives.
It’s amazing how the local kids balance on bikes here as they’ve grown up on these moving vehicles. It’s not unusual to see people doing their homework, eating, reading or even sleeping as passengers on the bike.
Lot of grandparents take their little cherubs to and from school on the bike. There are many available free parking spaces. It’s super convenient and cheap as well as environmentally friendly (also helps with social distancing!)
The NIU bike brand is hugely popular in Shanghai. The bikes are a little more expensive, but also robust, have good safety standings and have many sales representative shops that can help with modifications and queries.
I often interchange the E-bikes with the shared ‘push bikes’ that are ample on every street corner. They give you a wonderful chance to explore the nooks and crannies of a new area.
There are many different brands of bikes. I tend to stick with the Ali -bikes defined by their characteristically blue colour. You just need a mobile phone, QR code and it connected to your online funds and then your off!
The cost of renting the bike is ridiculously cheap so again it’s affordable and environmentally friendly as well as helping us to keep in shape.
My other choice of course is walking if all else fails! The transport system in Shanghai offers a myriad of options which are low cost in comparison to the UK- the main winning factor here is that Shanghai has a more modern system, super-reliable, cheap and easy to access- for example a cost of a single journey anywhere across the network is about 30 pence. This would be minimum £1.20 within a certain ‘zone’ in London- more if further. I feel another post coming on to give you a break down of my much- loved subway system!
