We've just begun our 3rd week in Hangzhou and I thought I'd talk about this city in this post. The school has given me a bicycle to use for the 5 weeks that we're here and I've been riding pretty much every day to explore the city. The one great thing about the layout of the roads here is that they have bike lanes on almost all the streets. The lanes are separated by cement dividers or large vertical reflectors that line the entire bike lane. It's fantastic!
In some of the other cities that we've been to, the traffic patterns were very chaotic. In Hangzhou , however, it is much different. There are traffic lights at all intersections and they are much more advanced than the ones we have at home. The lights here count down from 10 to 1 to let drivers and bikers know when the light will turn green or red. Also, there are separate signs for bikers. In addition to the little green man that says it's safe to walk, there's a little green bicycle that lets you know when it's safe to pedal across the street. It is a very bike-friendly city. American cities could learn a thing or two from Hangzhou .
What I really love is that the city has 'bike stations' every 4 blocks or so. There are metal posts that have red bicycles attached to them. Like the Charlie Card we have in Boston or a Zip Car card, you can scan a card over the metal post and the lock releases and you can rent a bicycle for the day. If you return it within one hour (to any bike station in the city) it's free of charge. If you do keep the bike over an hour, it's only 1 or 2 yuan/hour, which equals out to about $0.30/hour. When you return the bike, you put the bike in one of the lock stations, scan your card and walk away. It is very cool.
There are bikers everywhere! I'm starting to learn that it's probably better to ride a bike than use your car because traffic can be pretty bad here. On the weekends, the teachers here have been so great and have taken us to visit the sites of the city. They usually drive us around and we've gotten caught in some bad traffic jams. They tell me that it's worse on the weekends. By bike, I'm amazed by how quick it is to get to most destinations from where the school is located. It's a pretty big city, but I get to most destinations within 30 minutes.
As orderly as it is, it's still a big city. The other day I was waiting at a cross walk that had a light (a rarity here). The traffic light finally turned red and the little green man and green bike appeared. I proceeded to walk my bike across the street, when a woman went around the 4 lanes of stopped traffic and drove on the wrong side of the road to go through the red light and honked at me to get out of her way. She missed me by about 1 inch. Those who know me can imagine my reaction.
I'm really enjoying exploring the city by bike. I look forward to getting home, throwing on my sneakers and hopping on my bike. Sometimes I get lost, but that's part of the fun. I carry my map, cell phone and contact #s with me, so I never get worried. When I do get lost, I'll stop people on the street to ask for directions. Most people are very nice, others just point in any direction just to get rid of me. I've learned that the best place to pop into for directions is a hotel. Even if the front desk people don't speak English, they'll grab a map and they'll point to the map to help you out. As a side note - there are SO MANY hotels in this city. Everywhere you look, there's a hotel. I read in the English newspaper here that all the rooms were booked in the city for Valentine's Day weekend - you wouldn't believe how popular this holiday is here. I also read that there was a small group of people protesting the idea of Valentine's Day. They claim that it is nothing but commercial holiday that has no place in China .
Well, that's all for now. Oh, before I go - I met the teacher that's going to visit DS in the spring. Her name is Wang Fei. Like the 3 students, she's awesome! She and another teacher, Tang Pei , took me out to dinner and a show on Saturday. We had a great time. This is a bustling city on Saturday nights, let me tell you. I was supposed to go hiking on Sunday with another teacher and her husband, but I had to cancel because I had an awful stomach bug. But, I'm feeling better now and looking forward to sharing more stories with you.
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