We love cycling in Shanghai’s former French Concession with its tree-lined streets and period architecture. Trouble is we keep bumping into roads that are one way or closed completely to bicycles.

Yes, we know, we could just ride the wrong way or on the pavement but life is easier when you can go with the flow rather than fight your way up-stream. So we’ve been putting together a map that reminds us of the easiest routes across town, especially since the Shanghai Daily proved that these days cycling is faster than a taxi.

Its a work in progress as there are parts of Puxi that we don’t know that well, especially around the Old City, so any comments from local riders will be greatly appreciated and we’ll update the map accordingly. We will keep a permanent link in the sidebar.

What the heck is happening at the Haining Rd crossing by Guoqing Rd?? This used to be an easy crossing to a useful shortcut over Suzhou Creek but while we were off our bike last year they changed the phasing of the traffic lights and just look at the result!

Bikes and pedestrians now get a nine second window to cross this six lane road BUT for eight of those seconds traffic is still using the road! Anybody know who we have to talk to to get this fixed?

We tried putting our arm in this position but it hurt. We’re going to stick to bungee straps when we need to carry a suitcase on our bike!

Despite our previous post about not buying a dead chicken in Asia, Wingman spots some while heading downtown with Madame Crash Test Dummy. Let the “irresponsible parent” e-mails begin!

Posted on imeem.com as Youtube is currently blocked in China by you-know-who beacause you-know-who did you-know-what in you-know-where.

Shanghai’s emerging middle class love their shiny new cars - 8,000 new ones appear on the city’s roads each month.
But they’ve quickly discovered they don’t love washing the dust and dirt off of them. So in Shanghai’s HID (Have It Done) culture a new cottage industry has grown up - neighbourhood car washes with several families operating in the same spot for convenience. This one outside a 1930s apartment building along Suzhou Creek is typical.