Riders on the Storm

Tiffany and I had our first experience of the Shanghai death-defying act known as bike riding. We and a few friends signed up for a bike tour which we thought was to take place outside of the city. But no no no, we were sadly mistaken. Instead we got a 4 ½ hour tour of the city on wheels.

We were all completely terrified for the first 15 minutes of riding through the daily traffic madness, but after that, we actually figured it out, sort of. Basically the key to riding in Shanghai is to follow the masses. So we merged into the flow of scooters, motorcycles and other bicyclists and went when they went, and stopped when they stopped. It ended up being a lot of fun, and we pretty much got to see the entire city in one trip.

On the left is the ferry that we took to cross the Huangpu river over to Pudong to continue our ride. We then took another ferry to cross again to the north.

To the right is more proof of the Chinese total lack of self consciousness. This was on a main avenue trafficked by thousands of people, cars, bikes, and yet these two decided it was the perfect place for a nap. If a Chinese person is tired, they'll go to sleep most anywhere. We've seen people napping in a wheelbarrow, at their desks at work during lunch break, or just like these guys, out on the street.