How to use shared bikes in Beijing

Beijing's flat roads make it a perfect city for cycling. If the weather's too sunny to waste time in the underground Metro or a Didi car, why not bike? Lining most roads are shared bikes that can be parked near anywhere you need to go, as most city travel plans are within biking distance.

Shared bikes are available in three colors: blue, yellow, and turquoise. Each belongs to one of three different companies and each has its own merits. Different color bikes are operated through different apps. However the most foreign-language friendly one is Alipay, a catch-all payment app, that has a built-in translator. Below are step-by-step instructions with pictures on how to use a shared bike thorugh Alipay.

- Open Alipay and Select "Transport".

- Select "Bike" and press Scan to unlock.

- Scan the QR code on the bike.

- Press "Confirm unlocking".

- Upon reaching the destination, park bike in designated areas circled by white marks on the road side, then press "I want to return the car (bike)".

Note:

- For yellow and turquoise bikes, the scanning screen pops up twice because they are external suppliers for Alipay.

- Everywhere when it says "car" it means "bike", it's a poor machine translation.

- Yellow bikes do not need to "confirm unlocking", it unlocks automatically after you scan the QR code.

Unlock a Blue Bike through Alipay

Unlock a Yellow Bike through Alipay

Unlock a Turquoise Bike through Alipay

Charging Standard

Blue Bike

◎ Starting price: 1.5 yuan, including 30 minutes;

◎ Duration fee: 1.50 yuan /30 minutes for more than 30 minutes (less than 30 minutes will be charged by 30 minutes)

◎ Vehicle dispatch fee (outside operation area) : 10.00-20.00 yuan;

◎ Vehicle dispatch fee (no parking area: 5.00 yuan

Yellow Bike

◎ Starting price: 1.5 yuan, including 30 minutes;

◎ Duration fee: 1.50 yuan /30 minutes for more than 15 minutes (less than 30 minutes will be charged by 30 minutes)

◎ Vehicle dispatch fee (return car outside the operation area) : 10.00 yuan;

◎ Vehicle management fee (return the car in the no-parking area) : 5.00 yuan;

◎ Vehicle management fee (return the car outside the parking spot) : 5.00 yuan

Turquoise Bike

◎ Starting price: 1.5 yuan, including 30 minutes;

◎ Time fee: 1.50 yuan /30 minutes (less than 30 minutes will be charged by 30 minutes)

◎ Dispatch fee (outside the operation area), that is, the fee to be paid when the vehicle stops outside the operation area: 10.00 yuan;

◎ Dispatch fee (no parking area), that is, the fee to be paid when the vehicle is parked in the no parking area: 5.00 yuan

◎ Vehicle management fee (the fee payable when the vehicle is parked outside the parking point in the operation zone) : 5.00 yuan

* Dispatch management fee outside the operation area, dispatch management fee in no-parking area and vehicle management fee are not duplicated.

Rental and return time

The rental service time is from 6:00 to 24:00, and the return service time is 24/7.