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I recently bought a bicycle. I don't know why it took me so long. When I lived in Baotou, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, I used my bike not only as a mode of getting from A to B, but also to get to know the city.

When I moved to Beijing in 2008, I settled down in the nether regions of Chaoyang district, outside the East Fifth Ring Road. Being so far away from the center of the city a bike just didn't seem like a practical mode of transport. After all, I could just hop on an express bus or the subway and be whisked downtown without breaking a sweat.

In 2009 I moved to Haidian district, a few kilometers south of the Zhongguancun computer market. My new home's improved location made biking a more realistic possibility but it took another two years to actually get off my butt and buy one.

I tried to convince myself that I was just too busy or that walking was better because it allowed me to soak up my surroundings. But, actually, it was laziness.

Public transport is cheap and efficient, cars and taxis are expensive yet fast (barring rush hour and construction madness), but it is bicycles that offer the best way to explore the crisscrossing streets of Beijing.

Before I bought a bike in Spring I generally explored by using the subway and walking. But the fact is that I spent most of my time memorizing on which side the doors would open and sticking my face in a newspaper. I was physically and metaphorically in the dark about what was happening above ground.

I tried to rectify the situation by setting off on walks once I exited the subway. But after spending whole afternoons exploring a miniscule part of Beijing, I realized that exploring the city on two feet could have taken the rest of my life, given my busy schedule.

During the last few weeks I have explored vast sections of Haidian district from the Third Ring Road to the Summer Palace using my bike. I have ridden on everything from the edge of a crowded highway to narrow alleys between ancient buildings. I would never have been able to do this walking.

Riding around the Summer Palace I was surprised at how streets can turn into parking lots near the apartment complexes that line the West Fourth Ring Road.

I enjoy taking in the sights and gliding down streets without worrying about how to get back to a subway stop. But as wonderful as biking around Beijing can be, I have to admit it can be dangerous if you are not careful, as more cars are added to Beijing's streets daily. In many places bike lanes have been greatly reduced, or have even disappeared.

That might not be a problem for some foreigners that ride through the city in spandex suits like they are competing in the Tour de France, but for people like me that like to go at a more leisurely pace I have already met my fair share of close calls and annoyed drivers. Twenty years ago it was a sea of bicycles, now it is a sea of cars.

Still, exploring Beijing by bicycle is definitely the way to go as nothing else can offer the same autonomy and accessibility. With the wind on your face it is up to you to decide if you will peel off into a shaded hutong or try to squeeze pass passengers trying to board a bus on a busy street.

Now that I have a bicycle I am seeing the city in a whole new light.

For China Daily