Features

China - Cycling in Nanjing

by Janice Bryant

You take your life into your own hands when you go cycling in Nanjing. The bike is your first challenge: brakes and a straight wheel are a bonus. Now as a cyclist I don’t like riding up hill, down hill, or in traffic – so why had I booked a three-day cycle tour of China?

Within five minutes of departure we were riding down a bike lane in a main road trying to avoid a melee of Chinese bikes and motorbikes. My knuckles were white on the handlebars as I threaded my way through the traffic. I was just about holding my own, when an enormous truck pulled out from a side road; there is no concept of give way in China. I braked hard and luckily the brakes held. I was shaking like a leaf, but I was able to teach the truck driver some new English swear words and a one or two rude gestures.

I carried on cycling until Nanjing Park, where there was much less traffic. Unfortunately, Nanjing Park had a new hazard for me in the form of a knackeringly steep hill. I rebelled at this point and got on to the support bus. I think one or two others would like to have joined me, but didn’t want to admit they’d had enough. It was a wise move on my part, as I then had the pleasure of watching everyone else puffing and panting to get to the top of the hill.

After a visit to Dr. Sun Yet Sen’s Mausoleum the tour had to brave the streets of Nanjing once again. They got strung out in the traffic and I was able to give our Tour Guide reports on whether we had lost anyone. I felt like Brian Hanrahan in the Falklands when he said “He counted them out and counted them in again”. They managed to regroup and were an awesome sight crossing the junctions. They had obviously decided the safest option was to go en mass and pray. When our courageous cyclists arrived at the restaurant, their bodies were wet with sweat and their eyes bright with the excitement of a dangerous mission: they had survived a bike tour of Nanjing.