Beat That Commute: Cycling Suicide or Subway Sardines?

I used to bike to work, Hepingli area to Jingshan Park area--a leisurely 20 minutes. Then my company moved to Weigongcun--and my nice 20 minute commute turned into 45 minutes. 45 minutes if I was lucky. No more nice leisurely commute--I had to fly along those roads, would arrive hot and gross--and then had to sit at my desk for the next 8 hours. (And moving closer to work wasn't a great option, for a number of reasons.)

By the time I was on my 6th bike and developing some serious breathing problems, I started to wonder whether this was really worth it. (1) I'd "lost" five bikes, no matter how many locks I put on them or where I locked them. One was stolen from outside my apartment door in the five minutes I ran inside to get something--despite being locked to the window grate with three locks. (2) I was in a foul mood nearly every day when I got to work, after being run down/cut off/screamed at by car drivers. (3) I arrived sweaty and stinky, with no way to get clean for the next eight hours at work, which did not contribute to my already foul mood. Perfume/body spray resulted in a migraine and funny looks/comments from Chinese colleagues. (4) I was getting severe colds or flus every winter that I just couldn't shake. In 2005, I caught a cold in October, and it lasted til April of the next year. (5) Even when I didn't have a cold, I still had serious lung problems, despite my heavy duty air cleaner at home; the lovely hack-and-spit of the long-term Beijing resident; and a persistent cough I couldn't shake. That cough would occasionally turn into extended coughing fits that terrified my colleagues; you can imagine how well that went over during SARS and the various flu scares in later years.

So after 4 years of biking around Beijing, I decided it wasn't worth it. I gave away my (pink) bike to a (male) Chinese friend, and went the subway route for the next five years. Five years of misery. Five years of being squeezed, crushed, poked, prodded, sneezed on, coughed on, stared at and glared at. Five years of silently repeating "Thou shalt not kill" as I did battle with the hordes an hour every morning and an hour every evening. There were a few bright spots: the occasional old man who would make sure I got his seat when his stop came up; the little old ladies who would admire my crocheting and discuss their own projects; a friendly girl or two who would make room for me to move to the middle of the car. But on the whole, the subway at rush hour is misery, and after five years, I decided that if I didn't find some alternate form of transportation, I might do someone some serious injury.

So last year I headed down to the shop near my apartment and got myself an electric scooter (and then bought a serious lock from the States to avoid theft and a good face mask from Singapore to deal with the pollution). Yes, I look like an idiot. But the commute is down to 25-30 minutes, and I'm no longer in danger of committing a felony.

Xiaohuoshan,
34 minutes of cycling can get you a long way - much further than the same 34 minutes of subway commute might take you when you factor in getting to the subway, going through security, getting to the platform, waiting for a train, taking the train, getting out of the station, and then getting to the office.

Of course, it depends on how far you have to travel to get to work. For longer journeys a subway's likely the best way but if it's only a handful of stops then a bike might cut down your commute.