Beijing sideways
Probably one of the coolest ways to discover Beijing is by sitting in one of these cool side cars from http://www.beijingsideways.com. The motorbike Chang Jiang 750 is the Chinese copy of the Russia M72 which is itself a copy of the BMW R71… so the replica of the replica…but still quite a beauty and the best about it: they managed to keep the BMW brumm brumm brumm sound throughout the copying – i like 🙂
My driver was surely the coolest biker I have seen while being in China. He knows the width of his sidecar down to the last centimeter as well as every corner of the narrow Hutongs. Driving past old people sitting on plastic chairs in front of their houses, children running through the streets, street cleaners with their bikes, chickens, dogs, people offering nicely piled up fruits and veggies, bicycles trying to squeeze passed us.. and even a Q7 who really barely fit throughout an alleyway.. probably the inofficial municipality control… all this makes the ride a beautifully wild but genuine experience.
Yes it felt like i drove right through Beijing’s heart and this in the middle of the center of the city just one or to blocks from Wanfujing Avenue which is a posh shopping area.
My guides were a fantastic yet knowledgeable company explaining me along the way all the sights we passed.They know all the tiny alleyways as well as the best spots for good views over the city and they would find any possible shortcut to escape the heavy traffic.
It is still an unusual thing to see this wonderful BMW replica humming through the city… and as they know many people in the Hutongs you here a ‘hello’ here, a ‘hello’ there and everybody keeps smiling at us.
A great trip it was !
suebluesky 