It’s been a couple weeks since I bought my bike. I live in a part of Shanghai that is not very close to any subway stations, so I figured I could cut down my commute time around town if I had a bike. So I went to the local GMT department store (which is pretty fantastic… they have everything you could ever ask for) and picked out a black bike. I was nothing particularly special… a mid-range bike at about 250 RMB. But it had all the basics (including a bell, which is very useful on the crowded streets of Shanghai).
So things were pretty good. I cut down my walk time to school from 15 minutes to 5 minutes. I could get to the subway station in 7-8 minutes. Yeah!
Well that soon ended. On one particular trip to the subway station, I locked up my bike (I had two locks). I parked it among some other bikes in a location that was pretty visible. I went into the subway station and was off on my trip. I returned a few hours later. Upon getting to the place I left my bike, my bike had disappeared… stolen I presumed. I double/triple checked to make sure I was in the right place… walked up and down the street in hope that it might magically reappear. No such luck. I was pretty hot-and-bothered… I hadn’t even had it a week.
Upon telling this story to a few of my friends, they all gave me a sympathetic smile. “Welcome to Shanghai!” as though my losing my bike was part of a right of passage into Shanghai. And I guess it sort of is as it happens pretty often. There are some unwritten rules (perhaps common sense) that I had failed to follow:?
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Buy used. You can get a used bike for 40-50 RMB that will not draw attention.
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Buy a good lock first (even better get a western style lock) and buy it from a different store than were you buy your bike (sounds a little paranoid, but hey, can’t hurt).
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Lock your bike to a pole if you can.
But even if you follow all these rules, you’re not completely safe. People I know who have been here for 2+ years have had 3-4 bikes stolen.
This event has me asking some questions
Shouldn’t a factor of conscience prevent this crime from being so prevalent? In China where cars are a luxury item that is out of the reach of some many people, bicycles are many people’s livelihood and perhaps their source of income. I know that I’m fortunate with respect to having a bike for convenience, but what if the bike belonged to someone who needed it for their job?
What do you do to protect your bike?
Anyone got a good used bike for sale?
In the meantime and since my mode of transport are a couple of shoes, I've take?some pix from Nanjing Lu.
The Bund
Pudong
‘til next time,
New Lao Wai