Beijing is a relatively bicyle-friendly city. There usually is a seperate road for bikes where you can drive quite independently from the cars. However, at the crossroads you have to pay high attention and it's beneficial if you are used to Beijing traffic rules already, e.g. you should know that a green traffic light doesn't necessarily mean that you can go on. But as this was my third bike trip, I felt quite confident already...
On my way to town I drove past Italy, Germany, Russia and more countries, well, at least the embassies of these countries which are to be found in Beijing's embassy quarter called Sanlitun.
On the way to the city centre I also peeped at the small lanes with 'siheyuans' (typical Beijing style houses) where the daily life of the people who live there is going on. After having passed the drum and bell tower and cyled along the banks of Houhai (the upper lake), I reached my goal of today: Beihai park (the nortern lake park). I was quite surprised that including my detours the whole trip had lasted only one hour and this with a bike that has no gear shift (German: keine Gangschaltung).
Beihai park is a former imperial garden in the center of Beijing next to the Forbidden City. I love visiting Beijing parks on the weekend! People dance, sing, just walk around, birds sing and old men take their birds in cages out for a walk (see the photo)... Beihai additionally offers some sights like a white pagoda, the nine dragon wall and temples. I also learned that it's only 103 days until the Beijing Olympics start (well, you can't miss that, they have countdown boards everywhere in town). After my visit to the park I just felt so relaxed!
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