Transportation in China in 1988

Bicycles - 21

When it comes to transportation in China you must not forget the common bicycle. This is a scene in Chengdu with bicycles being the pre-eminent means of transportation. Almost every major city devotes much of its city streets to bicycle lanes, one on each side of the street. China had 500 million bicycles by 1987. One bicycle for every two people of its population. When we lived in Chengdu we rode everywhere on our bikes. There was a fee of 2 fen to park your bike in a secured area. Ladies patrolled the bike parking spots and issued you a numbered tag. Two fen is a penny US. We put an American flag on the back of our bikes so we could find them.