My wheels

I do wear a lot of purple or lilac coloured clothes. Not exclusively - but I have a fair number in my wardrobe. When I went to buy a bicycle I was thrilled to discover this purple one in the midst of a range of other colours and so claimed it for me.

It is a basic bike but gets me to quite a few places. I'm not one keen to ride into the city on it, but am happy to pedal around the university and along the streets on the outskirts of the city. Even to the small supermarket here - when I don't need to carry a lot home!

Orange bikes

I'm not sure how it happens, but this semester there are new students all riding orange bicycles. All the same brand and there are rows of them. This lone cycle was near the bakery, and I received some stares as I photographed it.

What I thought was odd - apart from so many bikes of this colour on campus, is that few are "unwrapped" and still sport their bubble wrap packaging, just as they would have been at purchase.

So many are like this. For me, I was keen to remove all my packaging very quickly to reveal my new shiney bike.

Bike Passenger

Yesterday when walking in the college grounds we came across two guards and a worker helping put a lady's bike onto the old tricycle. Maybe it ran out of puff - in any case, it was loaded on to the cart of the tricyle and taken somewhere.

When I took the first photo, the men looked up and laughed. So I took another photo. It has been very busy on campus as the first year students arrive over a few days and there is organised chaos with new students, parents, grandparents, and vehicles.

Bikes, and more bikes.

The people of China are great bike riders. Bicycles, e-bikes, motor bikes. Wheels of all kins really. One of the challenges of living and working in a city like Shaoxing is dodging the many vehicles. It is often like a giant game of "Dodge'em" played out on the roads.

On mainland China cars are driven on the right hand side of the road. Around here there are usually four lanes - two in one direction and two in the other direction divided by a double yellow line. One gets the impression that cars are not meant to traverse this yellow double line, similar to the double white line we have in Australia. But things are not quite that easy here. Cars (especially taxi's) seem to go in all directions, on whatever side of the road they wish.

Bicycles are much the same. It is rather hair raising.

As well, there are little provision for "parking" - there certainly are car parks, but I think few and far between, so cars do seem to stop in the most unusual places.

Bicycle parking? Anywhere and everywhere. The bikes are parked in front of shopping complexes (rows of them - row upon row upon row) just like here in front of the Trust Mart in Shaoxing.

Late in the afternoon and early evening it is rather chaos as the bike riders set off. It is no wonder I procrastinated about buying one for myself.