Cycling popular in China

‍‍In recent years, cycling is becoming the choice of Chinese people as a fashionable way of exercise and a kind of lifestyle. According to the Chinese Cycling Association, more than 8 million people across the country ride once a week to exercise and relax , and Guangdong, Fujian, Beijing, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Shandong, Jiangsu, Henan, Liaoning, Sichuan ranks in the front in terms of cycling population. 

People would spend from around 2,000 yuan to around 300,000 yuan on the equipment. It is common to see discussions of how to build or upgrade bicycles and how much to spend in online forums. 

Cycling could be roughly divided into three kinds – road cycling, mountain cycling, and special cycling, according to some people. In Beijing, fans of cycling have been increasing by 15% every year since 2000. The number of road cycling fans is about 30% of the entire group, and avid fans of road cycling are mainly from the age group of 30-35. Having a bicycle worth from 50,000 to 10,000 yuan would be regarded as an avid fan, and there are at least 7,000 such people in Beijing. The largest group is fans of mountain cycling, which is about 50% - 60% of the total number of fans. 

Some people are not limited to just buying bicycles any more. Some have developed interests in collecting and building bicycles as well. 

In China, there are some popular and famous routes for riding. Many dream to have a bicycle trip to Tibet. Many people would go for a ride in other places, for example, in Hainan or Taiwan. People living in cities would ride in the outer area of the city. Beijing fans can ride through Hutongs (narrow streets in the city). 

One problem for this sport in China remains to be the safety issue. Because in many Chinese cities, bicycle lane is also used by automobiles, riding in these situations could cause injures. If this problem is solved, the sport would be more popular here. 

Source: Linmin