Shanghai'd

Bicycle.
Many of you may vision the streets of China as the idyllic, wide-laned, zixingche-filled boulevards of yesteryear. Think again. While the bicycles remain, so do thousands of taxis, buses and increasingly, private cars all negotiating for a stretch of pavement.
Laurel and I just bought our first pair of bikes (I say first because I fully expect them to be stolen at some point). Good thing a "nice" ride runs about 500 yuan ($60 USD) here. Laurel got a classic city cruiser, complete with front basket, while I opted for the currier-style single speed. Both should be well suited for the pancake flat Shanghai terrain and self-imposed top speed of 10 mph (see below).
As in the US, it is always a good idea to follow the rules of the road on your bike, which as far as I can tell consist of:
- in China, the brake has officially been replaced with the horn. master this first rule, and the rest will come easy. struggle with this concept and be forever doomed to a life of white-knuckle taxi rides.
- the bigger object always has the right of way. plan accordingly
- stick with the other bikes. there's safety in numbers
- whatever you do, do not exceed 10 mph (the only exception is if you happen to be a car making an illegal turn at the time)
- expect the taxi driver next to you to do something stupid any minute now. you see, he just did
- wear a surgical mask or get used to breathing pollution, dust and exhaust
- if you happen to be hauling a load on the back of your bike, pile that crap high; you don't want to have to make a second trip
- only wear a helmet if your name is Tim or Laurel and you come from America
- women over 40 riding BMX bikes reign
Ah, two-wheeled mobility! Off to explore the city, following the above rules, of course.