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Blanc from France asked me a series of questions regarding using cars and bicycles in Shanghai.
Finally, I have some questions about you car and your life? Do you know how often you will use your car, on a regular basis? For you, is it quicker to take your car or to take the subway, to go to work, for instance? Why did you eventually decide to buy a car? Will you use it for longer trips? What about traffic jam?
How Often I will Use My Car
I may not use my car frequently before I move to Pudong. I have decided to say bye bye to Pudong after long hesitation. After changing my mind back and forth, I finally (I hope) decided to move to Pudong with the new car. It may happen quickly. After that, I suppose I will use the car everyday to go to work.
Is it quicker to take subway?
Yes. It is always the quickest way to go with subway, if the destination are near a subway station. The reality is, however, the subway only covers a small part of the city. Apartments near the subway station is much more expensive than other places. I decide to move to a place with no subway so it will be quicker to use car instead of taking buses to subway station, get Metro #2, transit to Metro #1 at People's Square...
Why did you eventually decide to buy a car?
Because I decided to move to Pudong. They why did I decided to move to Pudong? Because I decided to buy a car. :-D
Actually, the life with a car in Pudong and the convinient life in Puxi without a car are completely two different life styles. I chosed the first one. To tell you the secret, just because it was too hard to find a good apartment in Puxi after seeking for an apartment for a long time.
Will I use it for long trip?
Yes. Hangzhou and other cities in Zhejiang are very good for weekend. I may drive there during weekend and enjoy life there.
Another thing is about your cycling trips? How often do you usually use your bike? Do you use your bike on a regular basis in the city? Is it true that The City if Shanghai decided to ban bicycles from certain streets? Is it still the case? If you want to go to the supermarket, will you use your bike or your car? Is it expensive to take the subway?
Bicyles? I don't take it seriously. It is a toy for me, like the excercise equipment. I know many people are still using bicycle as transportation because they think the bus and metro are too expensive. Do you think 2 RMB or 0.24 USD expensive? They will since their monthly salary may only be 1000 RMB or 120 USD. Bicycles are serious transportation options for them.
I don't use bicycle to go to supermarket. I either take taxi or go there by bus, but not taxi. Shanghai is not a taxi friendly city. It is true that more and more roads start to ban bicycles. This will continue. Cycling is still my favorite sports, but not my transportation option.
Posted by Jian Shuo Wang at March 22, 2004 11:20 PM
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I can't imagine taking a bicycle to work everyday not that I wounld not want to anything is better than being stuck in traffic, but the streets of Shanghai are not what I would call suited for bicycle traffic. While in Shanghai I saw 2 cyclists who had been swiped by taxi's, luckily neither of the cyclists were seriously hurt. That convinced me that although biking around Shanghai seemed interesting, it could very well prove fatal. I thought the taxi situation was very good in Shanghai, just about any time of the day you could hail a taxi to get where you needed to go. The light blue taxi's were very clean and the drivers seemed to know where to go, while the green one's did not seem as professional.
Posted by: Paul Ayala (external link) on March 25, 2004 7:03 AMyou do not need claim that the bicycle is not your main transportation tool again and again.
Posted by: okay buddy on July 1, 2004 10:36 AMI live in Yuma Arizona, USA. I am thinking of moving to Shanghai for one year and was interested in what a car would cost. I found your blog very informative. Thank you for posting your experiences.
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