Things You Need to Know before Biking Tour in Beijing

2019-04-16

To ensure your riding-tour in Beijing is safe, you need to prepare a lot. Follow us and learn about how to start your tour.

Bike-riding has become very popular as more people pursue a healthy life. Hence, it is no wonder that Beijing boasts convenient bike services. The bike service scene in Beijing falls into two types, one being the shared-bike such as Mobike and Ofo etc and the other one being rentals of public bikes managed by the municipal government.

The dockless shared bikes in Beijing are provided by various companies. The bikes are accessible via an app, and cost 1 RMB per hour plus a refundable damage deposit of 299 RMB. In addition, these companies often launch special offers. Thus, users often ride bikes free of charge. By scanning the QR-code on the bikes, you can unlock and use it. The most common shared bike companies are Mobike, with bikes of silver and orange colors and Blue go go, the dark blue bikes.

Compared to shared bikes, the for-rental public bikes are not so common. The advantage of the bike is that, the storage of the bike is fixed and the bikes are accessible by swiping IC card. That means an  internet connection is not necessary when using the bike. Users can use it free of charge within 1 hour and spend 1 RMB per hour for the additional time. It costs 10 RMB for a day at most. However, an IC card is necessary for rental bikes which can be accessed at some subway stations. You need to show your passport or other valid documentation when applying for the IC card.

It should come attention that, to ensure safety, all bike services are unavailable for people under 18 years of age.

Dongcheng District and Chaoyang District have offered bike rental services. With an ID cardor passport and an all-purpose card (with at least RMB 30), tourists can rent a bicycle with a deposit of RMB 400.

Rental cost:

The rental service is free of charge within an hour. For those exceeding 1 hour, RMB 1 is collected for every hour. But the highest toll for 24 hour is RMB 10. If someone fails to return the bike in 3 days, he / she will end up in the "black list", which might jeopardize one's future rental services to some extent.

For more information about Beijing Public Bike Rental Service, please visit its official website: http://www.bjysj.gov.cn/bjggzxc/Home_index_1_1.html

Gaode Map (高德地图) and Baidu Map (百度地图) are the two most common apps in China serving voice navigation in English. And both of them are accessible for iOS and Android users.

As for the bike etiquette, bike lanes lay on most streets in Beijing and are often next to the bus lane. Hence, it is ideal to keep your bike on the lane and be cautious of buses.

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