Two wheels good, four wheels bad

The government of Beijing is set to consider proposals to boost the number of cyclists on the city's roads and impose a congestion charge to slash the number of cars. Zhang Yuchen reports.

In 2001, when Ines Brunn first visited Beijing, she was impressed by the sight of millions of cyclists riding along wide, flat asphalt lanes separated from the sidewalks and main roads. The city's streets abounded with bikes, and during her short stay Brunn was thrilled to see so many cyclists in one place, so she decided to return.

However, in 2006, when she moved to Beijing to live and work, she discovered that the roads had been taken over by automobiles, and the number of cyclists had plummeted.