Cycling in Shanghai

gorgoracha

Hi!

I am thinking on moving to Shanghai later this year...
And I was wondering if anyone got experience of cycling on that busy city... When I say cycling I would rather say cycling type training on the weekend mostly.

Something like Surrey or Kent could be in London... Still busy but not bad for ridding

Thanks in advance for any advice!

ricky1980

not a good place to cycle there...
1) loads of cars
2) the big roads aren't designed for cyclists but they are designed for fast moving cars
3) really really bad air - you won't want to breathe that stuff day-in day-out

might worth your while getting a car...take your bike out of the city and to suburbs (proper suburbs like the far reaches of Pu-Dong)...

the air quality in Chinese major city is terrible, in the summer the smog is suffocating.

jotko

ricky1980 wrote:

not a good place to cycle there...
1) loads of cars
2) the big roads aren't designed for cyclists but they are designed for fast moving cars
3) really really bad air - you won't want to breathe that stuff day-in day-out

might worth your while getting a car...take your bike out of the city and to suburbs (proper suburbs like the far reaches of Pu-Dong)...

the air quality in Chinese major city is terrible, in the summer the smog is suffocating.

Shanghai air quality is not too bad compared to Beijing or other inland places, although that is the least of your worries, I shit myself at the driving in China sitting in the back of a cab, not sure I would want to be on my bike

ricky1980

I have families in China, especially in Shanghai. I tend to stay there for up to 3 weeks during April/May one of the best seasons. But the air is already bad. the traffic is horrific!

the worse congestion i have experienced was in Beijing, saw in slow moving traffic for over 5 hours to travel less than 5 miles. a total waste of a day.

wod1

I work out in Qingdao and surrounding area a lot and while I have never got a bike / been cycling myself there it seems to be ok. Cant speak about Shanghai as only ever been throught the airport.

In Qingdao I see groups riding around a reasonable amount with good quality road bikes, as well as people on all sorts of old random homemade bikes.

Courage Monsieur

Spent a lot of time on the east coast of China, and Shanghai, though not in the past five years.
I've not tried cycling there. But it was terrible traffic and pollution back then. I imagine it can only have got worse.
Not a great environment to ride in and it could take you a while to get out of the city. Sorry.
That said, at least a lot of the roads are new.

GyatsoLa

I've no direct experience of cycling in Shanghai, but its certainly better than most other Chinese cities as they have stricter controls on cars and driving and the road infrastructure is very good. Air quality can be grim, but its much better than in inland cities. Commuting and general riding around the city isn't too bad by Asian standards (i.e. you need strong nerves, but its possible), and on my last visit there (last month) I was surprised to see a number of new shops opened selling nice road bikes and mtb's. People I know who keep up sport cycling in Asian cities usually ride very early morning in the weekends when the roads are pretty quiet and its not too hot in summer. There is certainly a small but definite sign of a rise in interest in cycling among better off Chinese, so hopefully things will improve.