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Urban Liveability and the Bicycle: Beijing at the Cross Roads. 城市宜居性与自行车：在十字路口上的北京

Sonntag, Juni 20th, 2010

Shannon Bufton Speech at UCCA Beijing

这周末我要在798的尤伦斯画廊做一个关于城市宜居性和自行车的讲座。 大家也许知道我来自于建筑和城市规划的背景， 在过去的六个月里， 我给予了北京这个城市和其自行车文化很多思考。

众所周知，北京曾经是个自行车王国， 曾有80％的居民用自行车出行。 如今随着大家放弃自行车而选择小汽车，自行车出行率降到20％。 每周有成千辆新车涌上北京的道路， 把北京变成了一个汽车王国。

与此同时， 北京正在认真思考如何成为世界城市， 怎么创建一个更宜居的城市。 目前世界上一些最宜居的城市正在朝这个方向发展： 把市中心以汽车为主导的交通形式转变为可持续性亲民的交通方式，比如自行车。

北京正处在这个十字路口， 随着自行车文化的消失， 北京可以看着它慢慢死亡， 或者可以开始倡导自行车2.0， 帮助北京更快的转换成一个宜居的世界水平的城市。

地址： 尤伦斯画廊 798
时间： 周日 6月20号 上午11－12：30
语言： 中英文

This weekend I will be giving a lecture at the UCCA in 798 about Urban Liveability and the bicycle. As many of you may know I come from an architecture / urban design background and over the past 6 months I have been giving a lot of thought to this city and its bicycle culture.

As we all know Beijing was once the ultimate bicycle city with around 80% of its residents using the bicycle to move around. These days ridership is down to 20% as cyclists ditch the bike in favor of the car. Thousands of new cars are hitting the streets in Beijing every week and are turning Beijing into the new ‚car kingdom‘.

At the same time Beijing is getting serious about becoming a World City and improving the liveability of the capital for its residents. The trend in the most liveable cities in the world is shifting away from a focus on the automobile for urban mobility in city centers and towards more sustainable and people friendly forms of transportation such as the bicycle.

Beijing is now at the cross roads with its bicycle culture in decline- it can let wither and die or it can start to promote Bicycling 2.0 in the city and assist in a more rapid transition to a World class liveable city.

Location : UCCA Auditorium, 798
Time : Sunday 20th June 11.00 am – 12.30 pm
Language : English / Chinese.

Posted in Beijing, China, Cycling, Green | 1 Comment »

Tianjin TV „China Right Here“ Show Environmental Topic: Ines Brunn – the „Fairy on Wheels“

Sonntag, Mai 9th, 2010

The Tianjin TV documentary about my thoughts to a greener Beijing and blue sky that was broadcasted last year is now online. You can watch the full 30 minute film at this link: 单车天使 Fairy on the Wheels – Ines Brunn 伊泉. It shows my participation in the 2008 Greening the Beige event with my bicycle performance, how I cycle everywhere in all kinds of clothes, and how we started the Beijing fixed gear group. As well as my efforts to promote cycling for a better environment and blue Beijing sky.

Let us make Beijing’s sky become more blue

一个德国女孩，一段绿色环保的旅程。伊泉，这位世界一流通信测试仪表公司驻亚太区的经理，已在北京骑行4年的她，无论是街头、巷尾，还是剧场、舞台。风驰电掣的身影，交错转动的车轮。这个人们眼中异样的女孩，脚踏着车轮，追逐着梦想—永恒绿色的主题。她和她的自行车就犹如一个符号，述说着新旧的故事，也承载着不断的希望。

Ines Brunn in Fairy on Wheels Documentary

Unrelated but interesting: Bobby Spokes made a comment on a South China Morning Post newspaper letter claiming that bikes are in the way of Porsche and Ferrari drivers in Hong Kong. He wrote: „You can throw a bit of science in. Cycling can take a quarter off a person’s perceived age and a third off the emotional and metabolic age. …“. I did not know that. And I could not find any scientific evidence yet. But that is probably why everybody thinks I am so young. You should cycle more too 🙂 I also found an article in China daily about cycling in Beijing.

Posted in Beijing, China, Cycling, Fixed Gear, Green, Media, Performers | 1 Comment »

STC Friday Light Ride

Freitag, Mai 7th, 2010

We usually have a bike ride on the last Friday of the month. But because last week was not possible. Shannon and I organized the monthly STC ride on this Friday night. It is called Friday Light Ride because it A, is an easy ride for any person on whatever kind of bike and B, we encourage people to use lights which makes the group stand out from any other cyclist or electric bike person.

Friday Light Ride organized by STC Beijing

The weather tonight was perfect for an evening bicycle ride through the city. We met up at the drum and bell tower with the other cyclists.

Drum and Bell Tower meeting point

Heading out by Bike just after sun set in Beijing

Then we rode towards the West and along the shore of the West lake and then towards the South to the Financial district.

STC Friday Light Ride cyclists with lights

Most people said they did not know about the Financial street called Jinrong Jie. It has extended in the past years with more and more glass/metal high rises. It is a nice place to ride along during the evening. Then we headed down the Chang’an Jie. And took some pictures.

Some CTS Cyclists in front of the Hall of the People

Tiananmen with STC Cyclists

We had quite a big group and except for one flat tire we all had a great ride.We organize these Friday Light Rides to show people how easy it is to get around town even at the 7pm rush hour time. We hope that more people chose the bike rather than taking a car or taxi.

Friday Light Ride Cyclists in Beijing

We then went to a small courtyard restaurant called Hao Di in Huangchenggenbei hutong having barbecued things like lamb skewers, chicken wings, mushrooms, seafood and others. It was great fun for those cyclists who came to have dinner with us.

Dinner in a Courtyard

The Chinese STC Cyclists

Fun and fast dinner with cyclists

After the dinner a smaller group went to have ice cream, mainly the foreigners. The Chinese find it funny that foreigners like to have something sweet after dinner. And then I went to meet some friends in Nanluoguxiang hutong in the Salud bar where we got discounted drinks. What a perfect day (it had started with the 5:30 am 130 km bike ride).

Posted in Beijing, China, Cycling, Green | 1 Comment »

Beijing TV on Cycling being Green

Mittwoch, Mai 5th, 2010

Wang Ying from Beijing TV came to my shop to interview me because she is the host for a show on environment and green topics. Of course in front of the rolling camera she said that she does not bike and would never want to cycle herself. The cameraman then stopped the camera and said she cannot say that so we re-did that part of the interview. Even though her job is to host this show on green topics but she was really offended when the cameraman proposed to buy her re-usable chopsticks because she said she is not such an environmental person. She does not care about green. But she is doing that program. She should change her job. I love TV.

Posted in Beijing, China, Cycling, Green, Media | 1 Comment »

Bike Tricks on Stalk Bamboo Bicycle

Donnerstag, April 29th, 2010

I am having the impression that there are less walk in visitors at this year’s China Cycle exhibition. But it is still fun to perform on the open area and watch how my bicycle stunts draw a crowd. Here are some pictures of me (Ines Brunn)  doing bike tricks on a bamboo bike made by Stalk.

Ines Brunn doing Bicycle Tricks at China Cycle Exhibition

Bicycle stunts on bamboo bike

Crowd is getting bigger watching Ines perform

Big circle of people watching Ines’ amazing bike tricks

Headstand on the Stalk Bamboo Bicycle by Ines Brunn

There are new buildings around the exhibition center that have not been there last year. Like this one that looks like it has caves for rock climbing. It really looks inviting. I wonder if anybody will try to climb it when it is finished.

Rock Climbing Building

Posted in China, Cycling, Fixed Gear, Green, Performers | 1 Comment »

Low Carbon Conference and Trick Biking at China Cycle

Mittwoch, April 28th, 2010

In the innovation center of the China Cycle exhibition in Shanghai they had some interesting bicycle designs. My favorite was this really nicely done wooden bike in the form of a 60 for the 60th year anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.

Wooden 60 China Bike

There was a conference on „Low Carbon Emission“ so Shannon and I (who co-founded STC) went to listen to their ideas.

Low Carbon Emission Conference

It was actually about a bike ride from Beijing to Shenzhen called „China Tour“ to promote cycling as „Low Carbon Life“.

Low Carbon Life Event Logo Description

It is organized by the China Bicycle Association (CBA) together with the company Xidesheng (XDS). The launching event on May 16th in Beijing Chaoyang Park will be organized by a PR company.

Forever GM and the Beijing PR Company Leader

Then a few young cyclists did a circle in the venue with the China Tour outfit.

China Tour Bike Riders 2010

The 12 cyclists that will ride from Beijing through China down to Shenzhen have already been selected. But Shannon and I are looking for a way to participate with STC.

I did tricks on the real bamboo trick bike today again here at the Shanghai exhibition. I uploaded a video of it that you can watch here. It was a video taken between the halls. The bamboo bike is really stable

There was bicycle art by Fang Zu Han. He does nice pencil drawings. I prefer this one.

Fang Zu Han Bike Drawing

And this is him with the head of the CBA

Fang Zu Han and the Bike Association

Posted in China, Cycling, Green, Performers | 1 Comment »

Natooke Booth at China Cycle Exhibition in Shanghai

Dienstag, April 27th, 2010

First day of the 2010 China Cycle Exhibition. I was astonished to see so many exhibitors getting in early in the morning. We actually had to wait a while in the crowd until we finally got in.

Exhibitors at Shanghai Exhibition Center

Our booth sidewalls had moved over night so we bought more tape to stick them back up. And here are many pictures of our first own Natooke shop booth with the booth chics and booth man:

Natooke Booth Left Side and the Booth Chics

Natooke Booth Back Side and the Booth Chic and Booth Man

Natooke Booth Right Side and the Booth Chics

Our booth was different than most booths. We wanted the people to interact with us. So we had the walls covered with some of the many newspaper and magazine articles about my Natooke store, the Respro anti-pollution masks and hump backpack covers, the Beijing fixed gear bicycle group, the STC cycling initiative and my trick bike performances.

Natooke Shop Booth at Chine Cycle Exhibition

Respro Masks at the China Cycle Exhibition

Natooke Bicycle Booth at Shanghai China Cycle

Bamboo Bike at Natooke booth

We would have liked to display more bikes but it would have been hard to transport them to Shanghai by train. So we decided only to take the bamboo bike made by my friend Zack Jiang. Bamboo is a green alternative to metal. This bamboo bike is made in the same geometry as my trick bike. Zack made it to prove that his bamboo bikes are really stable and do not brake even if I do my extreme bicycle tricks on this bamboo bike. The bike got quite some attention at the booth.

Bamboo Bike Attracting People

Of course I also met friends like Zhou Chang Chun who does some Chinese style bike tricks.

Bicycle Friend Zhou

As well as a cyclist friend from Tianjin called Baihua working in a newly started outer tire company that tries to look like CST brand.

Cyclist Friend Baihua

I performed bicycle tricks 2 times today on the bamboo bike. I made a webalbum with more pictures. But here are just a few.

Ines Bike Trick Performance

Bicycle Stunts by Ines in Shanghai

It was nice how easy it was to draw a crowd. And also people video taping that all said they have never seen anything like this.

Ines Brunn Cycling Show at China Cycle

Right after each show I got swamped with people. It was really fun. A lot were not believing that it was a real bamboo bike.

Ines Posing for Pictures after Performance

Ines Swamped by People after Performance

I met some great people that know me through the bicycle film festival, like Karta Healy.

Karta Healy at Natooke Booth

Also of course some Beijing friends like Master Yang had also travelled to Shanghai for this exhibition which is the biggest cycling show in China.

Beijing Master Yang in Shanghai

Posted in Beijing, China, Cycling, Fixed Gear, Green, Natooke, Performers | 1 Comment »

JisuPK at Bohai or Bust

Samstag, April 3rd, 2010

The Schoolhouse at Mutianyu organization and the China Charity Challenge co-hosted a charity bike event at their Roadhouse near the Great Wall North of Beijing. The event was called „Bohai or Bust„. All of the 100.-RMB registration fee is going to charity to provide a dinner, program and gift packages for the community’s elderly residents of the villages around Bohai and Mutianyu.

Almost 200 hundred people signed up and over half of them came to the meeting point at the TREK shop near Chaoyang Park. The bikes were loaded into 3 trucks and there were 2 huge buses. Unfortunately we encountered some holiday traffic as most companies in China have the coming Monday off.

Charity Ride Beijing Meet Up

In the name of STC Shannon and I had prepared the JisuPK. JisuPK is very fun bicycle event where 2 competitors on bikes attached to stationary rollers race each other in front of a cheering crowd. Typically a race lasts only 30 seconds and the winner is the rider that covers the set distance the quickest. The progress of the race is projected onto a screen so the crowd can get behind their favorite rider. Participants can challenge a friend to a race, race a colleague, race someone from another country, even race their Mum!

Bikes set up for JisuPK

But first everybody set out for their bike rides. There were 4 different proposed routes: 10km, 26km, 60km or for the A riders about 100km. We set out a bit late and as there was a tight schedule the A riders could only do about 85km. But it was still a nice ride. I did not have too much time to take pictures therefore just 2 snapshots from the A ride:

Bike riding over a pass near Mutianyu

This picture I took at the top of Sihai mountain. That is a very great mountain to ride a road bike up.

Sihai Mountain View

Samantha Song came out with us. She did not ride bike but stayed at our Natooke shop booth, even though there were not many people until 1pm.

Natooke Shop Booth at the Bohai or Bust Charity Event

When I arrived back there was a dance exhibition put on by a local troupe of villagers. There was a barbeque going on.

Cyclists after Ride and Food

Then we started the JisuPK. It seems the bike riding in the fresh air and beautiful mountains plus the food made most people very lazy. But we did get some guys to race.

JisuPK at Bohai or Bust Event

Before the JisuPK semi finals for the mens:

JisuPK semi finals for the mens

My friend Anthony is planning a bike ride through South China. He has a website called ride2freedom.org and did a post about this event today.

The buses and trucks actually left for Beijing on time at 4:30. And the traffic back into the city was less bad as expected.

Posted in Beijing, China, Cycling, Green, Natooke | 2 Comments »

Smarter Than Car Spring Bike Ride in Beijing

Sonntag, März 28th, 2010

STC Spring Bike Ride Flyer

The motto of this „Smarter Than Car“ (STC) bike ride today was: We are taking the audacious step of announcing that spring is here! Despite the sandstorms and late snow the temperature is rising quickly and the weekend is forecast to hit 18 degrees. About time! So dust off your bike and get ready for a leisurely Sunday morning ride through the city. We will meet between the drum and bell tower at 11am and ride a scenic 1 hour route through the city and arrive at Chaoyang Park for a picnic lunch. Please bring your own blanket, food and drinks.

春天骑行: 我们斗胆宣布一下春天到了. 抛开沙尘暴和春雪不说, 气温正快速回升,预计周末能达到18度. 好不容易熬出来了. 所以把你的自行车擦干净, 准备好周日下午的快乐骑行吧. 我们上午11点在鼓楼和钟楼中间的空地集合, 然后骑1个小时, 享受城中美景, 最后到达朝阳公园野餐. 请带上毯子,吃的喝的.

STC Spring Ride Meet Up

It was nice to see my fixed gear bike friends come meet us at the Beijing drum and bell tower. That was particularly good as we had a woman and a camera man from Beijing TV station come to take footage of the event. I thought they would film this spring bike ride which has the idea to encourage people to ride their bikes in Beijing as a low carbon emission and fun transportation method. But no, Beijing TV was more interested in me doing a trick bike performance. I had come to this ride with my cyclo cross bike and outdoor shoes as after the ride I was heading to the TREK cyclo cross race. As I did not bring any one of my fixed gear bikes I said that they should film someone else of the Beijing fixed gear group. So we first asked Liang Xing aka Ryo to do some skidding on his fixie.

Liang Xing Skidding behind Gulou in Beijing

That was okay until he skid into a barrier. But he bent it back and it actually still worked afterwards so the guards were not too upset. Well then I grabbed a 56cm Natooke fixed gear bike (which was way too tall for me) off one of the guys and did some tricks for Beijing TV. And after some more photos for Global Times we could finally set out for our STC spring bike ride.

Smarter Than Car Spring Ride

In the beginning of the ride there were a lot of people on the streets in this beautiful weather. As we cycles along the side of one of Beijing’s canals we came past a group of people watching 3 people pulling a guy that probably could not swim out of the canal. I have no idea how he could have fallen in the canal, maybe he was already drunk. But it was good to see that he was still alive.

Cruising along the Beijing canal by bicycle

I love this route along the canal, you have almost the whole road for cyclists. Once in a while there is a car but it is amazing how empty it is despite in being in the center of the city.

STC Spring Ride with Sunshine

Cycling on almost empty cycle paths in Beijing

More of my pictures are in this webalbum of our Smarter Than Car ride. The group arrived at the Chaoyang Park. But as we could not bring our bicycles inside (only kids are allowed to do that and we were considered too old) the majority of thd fixed gear guys headed off. I unfortunately had to go to board the bus to head out for the cyclo cross race. And the others locked their bikes and went inside the park for a spring picnic. Shannon Bufton and I are looking forward to more people joining us for the next STC bike rides.

STC Arrived at Chaoyang Park

Posted in Beijing, China, Cycling, Fixed Gear, Green | 1 Comment »

Global Times News Article: No gears, but a business license

Montag, März 8th, 2010

Today there were more articles about our Natooke opening party yesterday. The one in the Global Times was written very nice. Here is the link to the original version.

No gears, but a business license
Source: Global Times [23:35 March 08 2010]

The opening party of Natooke last weekend. Photo: Matthew Jukes
The opening party of Natooke last weekend. Photo: Matthew Jukes

By Matthew Jukes

An impromptu street party broke out in Wudaoying Hutong over the weekend to mark the official opening party of Natooke.

The shop has been in place for a while, as a hub for the fixed gear bike and juggling groups that it caters to, but on Sunday the owners decided to celebrate the arrival of their business license in style.

„We thought we’d have the party in spring because it would be warm. It’s going to snow tonight!“ said CEO Ines Brunn. „We hope that there will be more people that get on their bikes in the city and come ride with us. Oh and that more people start juggling!“ she added, before disappearing into the throng.

By early afternoon a juggling workshop was well under way, thanks to the shop’s director, and Beijing juggler Federico Moro, surrounded by a ring of eager learners of all ages.

„It has been great, everyone is really happy. We’re setting up as a good business in this neighborhood, no one else is doing something like this on this street,“ said Moro, after his workshop. According to the juggler, this shop is the first of its kind to sell juggling equipment to the individual practitioner, a concept that hasn’t taken off in China yet. „Juggling is spreading all over the world. In China I want to be here for that and help it to develop,“ he added.

As the learners made their way into the shop to get out of the cold with a few balloon animals, cheers rose up from the crowd as another pair of participants got on to the Goldsprint machine (a kind of bike simulator) to test their biking potential from the comfort of the shop.

As always with an outdoorsy crowd, there was a bit of a green message. The shop was passing out reusable plastic bottles for the crowd and a slogan on a red banner urged everyone to respect the environment.

Vance Wagner, a green conscious friend of Natooke, had popped down to celebrate. „I think this means that the culture of bicycling is becoming cool again,“ he said. „This is another place that provides an alternative mode of transport to cars.“

As the day progressed, the shows grew steadily more and more spectacular, impressing the crowd with a trick bike display and street performance routine. Passersby and friends of the shop alike were also equally happy to take part in toasting to congratulate the shop as champagne was passed round and party poppers were let off.

Judging by the remaining crowd at the end of the day, the little alternative hub in Wudaoying looks set for success for the coming times.

Ines Brunn at Natooke Opening Track Stand Competition

There are also some more articles written in Chinese on various websites across China.

只能通过一辆小轿车的五道营胡同，几十名“老外”耍起车技，昨天（7日）下午，来自美国、德国、英国、法国等十六个国家的五十余名外国朋友用自行车表演，与“胡同邻居”共同倡导“绿色出行、低碳生活”主题。

带着“小老外”一起体验“杂耍”乐趣、每人手中一个环保水瓶、可重复使用的便携筷子、还有脚蹬一辆或前卫或复古的自行车，昨天的低碳“爬梯”吸引了几十名外国朋友一起参与。在打扮得红彤彤的胡同里掀起“绿色浪潮”，胡同里的“中国邻居”走出家门一起参与，不少街坊说起自行车技毫不服软，也要“一试高下”。

“骑自行车既方便，又环保，我们都很喜欢。”来自德国的伊泉是自行车达人，还在五道营里开了自行车商店，专卖形形色色的“组装车”，昨天下午她带着自己的车友一起在胡同里“秀”车技，“静止”、“穿梭”，赢得阵阵叫好声。伊泉告诉记者，为了倡导低碳健康生活，以后每周五下午都将在胡同中上演“车技秀 ”，“希望越来越多的北京人也加入到我们的活动中，倡导绿色出行。”

Posted in Beijing, China, Cycling, Fixed Gear, Green, Juggling, Media, Natooke, Performers | 1 Comment »

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