Children & Bicycles in China 10

In a country with 1.4 billion people all coveting for a shiny new automobile, it is refreshing to see children enjoying the simple pleasure of a bicycle.

While living in China, I had the unique opportunity to spend time bicycling with some children who I had met. Few things bring me more joy than seeing the wide smile on a child while enjoying every moment as they explore their neighbourhood by bike.

We can learn a lot from children. Children are hardly excited to ride inside an automobile – my daughter Sofia usually starts crying when we put her in a car (I have trained her well).

But when these children get on a bicycle, their faces light up while the cool ocean breeze brushes their face while they ride a bicycle in the open air.

Unfortunately, as in Canada, children in China are already being primed by society to love cars (as I had been raised in the 1980’s), and before long society will pressure them to display their “success” by driving a car (the more expensive the car, the more “successful” they are).

I bicycled through my neighbourhood with the 7-year-old son of an American ex-pat who lived a couple doors down from me, an 11-year-old daughter of a family friend of my in-laws, my daughter Sofia, and the 5-year-old son of a family friend.