Standing atop a stool clamped to a bicycle rack in her long white wedding gown, the giggling bride clasped her bouquet of white roses as her new husband pedalled frantically down Huayuan Road in Haidian District to the reception restaurant. "This is the way we like it. I will never regret this," Fan Xiaoping told The Beijing News.

"It's really romantic to have our wedding ceremony this way," said bridegroom Jiang Yang, a doctoral student at Peking University.

Their story appeared to mark something more significant than a wedding announcement: the beginning of a mini-backlash against the motor vehicle in the Beijing print and online media along with events, such as the "Driving One Less Day a Month for a Blue Sky in Beijing" activity held on World Environment Day on June 5.

Recognizing that alongside Mexico City, Beijing shares the distinction of being the world's most polluted capital, more than 200,000 Beijing drivers pledged to use public transport, ride a bike or walk to work on that day. "It tells us that many people still reserve a special place for the bicycle in their heart, regardless of there being so many cars on the road," said a civil servant from the Shenzhen Intellectual Property Bureau.

"I ride a bike to work almost every day, and only drive to the suburbs for the weekend," said Wang Yan.

There are about 500 million bicycles on the Chinese mainland, according to the Beijing-based China Bicycle Association.

"It's time for us to rethink or rediscover what the bicycle can bring us," said association president Wang Fenghe.

Sooner rather than later, "government and people alike, including those car owners, will realize how convenient, healthy and environmentally-friendly riding a bicycle is," said Wang Yan.

Memory lane

"It's often said that Americans were brought up on the rear seats of cars. It's no exaggeration to say we Chinese were brought up on the rear seats of bicycles," said Shen Zhong, an accountant with a TV company in Beijing.

"You used to have to obtain a coupon to buy a bike, regardless of whether or not you had the money," said the 52-year-old.

Every year, each work unit was provided with a few coupons. Normally, Shen says, "one out of 100 employees had a chance to get one coupon."

In the 1970s, a worker's monthly salary could be about 30 yuan (US$3.70). Not until 1973 did Shen get her first bike.

"It was second hand, but it still cost me 100 yuan (US$12). My father asked his friend to fix the rattling for me. For that, my mother even cooked meat for him, which we could only eat during Spring Festival," said Shen, with a big smile. "My bicycle was like a family member. Life was difficult back then, so that happiness seemed much more precious than that of today."

Thus the bicycle was once an important status symbol. Shen remembers that when couples planned to marry, one of the prerequisites was the "san zhuan yi xiang" three rounds and one sound a bicycle, a sewing machine, a wrist watch and a radio.

It was a bicycle that brought Lu Yuling and her husband together.

"We lived far apart," said the retired high school teacher from Chengdu in Southwest China. "It wasn't so easy to get together. He had a bike. Therefore, almost every evening, he rode all the way across the city to see me.

"Instead of coming into my house, he used to sit on his bike and play a Russian love song on his harmonica. That was our secret signal. On hearing his harmonica, I'd dash out and then we'd ride out to the city park."

Her engagement gift? "Striking, and sexy. All my girl friends were so envious of me. "

A fire-engine red bicycle of course. "The bicycle was a key part of my romance and my life," said 55-year-old Lu. "I really miss the days when the city was like a huge neighbourhood, where car drivers respected cyclists and cyclists respected pedestrians."

Return of the king

Every 100 Chinese urban families had 162.7 bicycles in 2000, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. That figure dropped to 120 in 2005. Urban sprawl appears to be one reason.

"People's freedom of movement expands after relocation," said Peking University student Cai Zixuan, 21, whose family bought a car three years ago after moving to the West Fifth Ring Road from downtown Beijing.

"It's so inconvenient to go downtown without a car. Both my parents and I have driving licences so we can make full use of the car. None of us ever rides a bike anymore."

It seems that for a certain kind of affluent urban elite, the car has replaced the bicycle as the key status symbol, while the bicycle has now become its poor cousin, even a symbol of poverty.

"This way of thinking hinders the development of the bicycle. One's use of a bicycle shouldn't be taken as an indicator of one's financial status," said Wang Fenghe.

Wang feels the media overemphasize the glamour of the automobile at the expense of the bicycle's obvious advantages: Keeping fit, safety, easy to use, zero pollution, energy-saving, cost-effectiveness and size.

"These are the secrets of why the bicycle has lasted ever since its invention," said Wang.

Yang Shan, 36, sells 10 bikes a day at Beijing Cuiwei Shopping Mall. The price varies from 200 to 3,000 yuan (US$25-375).

"Most people buy the cheapest ones, because bicycles are stolen very often," said Yang as he assembles the new arrivals.

Apart from the classic Chinese brands like Forever and Phoenix, electric bicycles and portable folding bicycles are becoming increasingly popular.

Although the bulk of his customers are high-school students, Yang noticed more drivers are now buying bicycles.

Wang Xiaohui came to try out an electric bicycle. "I want to buy an electric bicycle to deliver and pick up my son from school. It's less of a headache and quicker," said the 34-year-old. "It takes only 10 minutes by electric bicycle."

It's a half-hour drive in the Beijing traffic, she says.

Other drivers are sticking folding bicycles alongside the spare tire in their car trunk, Wang said.

"They say when there's a traffic jam, they just park the car and get on their bikes."

(China Daily 09/28/2006 page13)