Pingyao

A cargo trike in Pingyao

We rented bikes in Pingyao and I got to try out a Flying Pigeon, which had decidedly odd handling. Very floppy (if I understand what flop means correctly). The saddle was also too low. As with the bike I rented to ride round the city wall in Xian, I spent too much time trying to sort out the brakes, everyone else rode away and I jumped on my bike to catch up, realizing only too late that the saddle was too low and that my knees would not be happy. Most bikes in China seemed to have saddles set rather lower than I would be comfortable with. (That is, lower with respect to the people riding them, not lower than I would like them to be if I were riding those bikes.) Although I had thought of the rod-brake roadster Flying Pigeon as the typical Chinese bike we saw fewer than I expected. There were tremendous numbers of folding and small-wheeled bicycles and a lot of modern, lightweight commuters. There were also a fair number of "ten-speed" style bikes, i.e. drop-bar, derailleur bikes with cheap-looking components. Unlike the ten-speeds of my youth they had sloping top tubes. In some cities, Chengdu for example, there were loads of electric bikes and scooters.