As Beijing barrels into 2010, the wrecking balls are swinging south of Gulou, plans are afoot to restore the burnt out TVCC Tower in the CBD, and authorities say they want to bring mass biking back to Beijing.

Now that China’s capital officially has more than 4 million cars, local authorities have decided it’s time to encourage a return to the humble bicycle. According to a report in yesterday’s Global Times, the Beijing Municipal Communications Commission has declared that by 2015, “23 percent of city commutes will be by bike.”

Supposedly this will be achieved through a network of exclusive bike lanes, which will “first be tried out this year in Zhongguancun and Guang'anmennei Avenue.” Around 50,000 bikes will also be made available to rent.

Perhaps we are missing the point, but a lack of bikes or bike lanes doesn’t seem to be the fundamental  issue discouraging people from riding. Beijing already has an extensive network of bike lanes – the problem is they’re getting narrower and drivers rarely respect them. Then there’s the issue of all those nasty particulates you’re breathing in when cycling through the city on your average Beijing bad air day.

The Guardian ran an article yesterday skeptical of the bike plan, which carried this quote:

"I don't think they are serious about promoting bicycles. It's much easier to buy and own a car in Beijing than Shanghai," said Chen Ying, a language teacher who owns two cars. "When I started driving 10 years ago, it was something special because not many people had cars then, but now everyone has one and the traffic is terrible. If they really want me to use a bicycle, they should build clean and safe bicycle lanes. At the moment, the roads are dangerous and too smelly."

The Guardian article also notes a similar announcement four years ago, which did nothing to slow Beijing’s burgeoning car population or the narrowing of bike lanes. Just last week China Daily reported on the closing of a large bike parking area under Guomao Bridge.

Still in Guomao, last October rumors circulated that work would soon begin on restoring the TVCC Tower, part of the new CCTV complex that was accidently burnt down by over enthusiastic officials last Chinese New Year. Today the Global Times reaffirmed that the tower would be refitted rather than demolished, a claim back up by reports in the Chinese-language press.

Concerns about the building's structural integrity remain however. The Global Times article states: “An architect at a leading real estate company in Beijing surnamed Chen told the Global Times that the CCTV tower is a pure steel structure building and that the integrity of the steel is vulnerable after the fire. "A detailed assessment of a burned steel structure must be carried out before any further moves…”

It’s far from clear that such an assessment has been carried out. The article quotes Lin Bo, the film director of the Architectural Biennial Beijing, saying the tower should be torn down. Lin also claims German architect Ole Scheeren, one of the architects of the CCTV tower, believes the structure is “irreparable.”

While we’re on the topic of demolitions, last week we reported on plans to demolish the area around Gulou to make way for an underground “Beijing Time Cultural City.” On the weekend we went for a walk around the area but saw no sign of impending demolition between the Drum and Bell Towers – yet. Destruction of the eastern side of Dianmen Waidajie, the street running south of Gulou, has already started however. Given most of the buildings on the eastern side of Jiugulou Dajie have been knocked down for several blocks south of the Second Ring Road, it seems likely that earlier rumors of extensive road widening plans for the area are true. No doubt it’s all to make way for new bike lanes.

Luan Jingjing helped contribute to this article.