An Overview Of Eco-friendly Transportation In China| 2 min read

The subways and busses can be the most confusing at first. For those who do not speak Chinese or read Chinese characters the busses are likely going to be the most challenging. However the subway is much more foreigner friendly. There is a website which gives subway maps for many cities in China.

In most subway systems, the announcer will speak english as well as Chinese, especially in the big cities. Despite the English, getting turned around is something that will happen many times. It helps to be flexible and have plenty of time when taking the subway at first, because stopping a minute or two to figure out where to go and possibly having to backtrack is likely to happen.

The buses are often extensive and when riding on them paying attention is very important. Because most people can’t read the characters, knowing the surroundings will help one to know when to get off the bus. It helps to ask a friend which bus goes to a certain place and keep a log of the different buses that go where.

Unless riding bikes long distances is of a particular interest to you, a bike is not convenient in all situations. Different cities will have varying availability for bicycle use. For example, in Beijing using a bike is not always the best choice because the distances from reasonable priced housing into town is too far and the subway is often more convenient. However, in Chengdu, a bike can be taken pretty much from one side of town to the other.

Scooters allowing for longer distances to be traveled, are often quicker and more convenient. Even electric scooters might not be able to go extremely far in big cities like Shanghai or Beijing, but it might be a worthwhile investment. A Tuk Tuk is a three-wheeled motorcar that can be found almost anywhere. When taking these Tuk Tuk’s one has to negotiate with the driver about the price, thus to ride these would require some knowledge of the language, mostly numbers.

There are many options of transport around China, other than taxis. It can be an adventure figuring out and using all the different transportation alternatives, and in doing so one can be saving the planet.