In case you are not aware, Beijing will be hosting the Olympics in 2008. In the north of the city, you are reminded of this very frequently. The scale of the building is indescribable. This week I went to Xia's home, further north than I thought was possible, and for the whole journey there was development going on everywhere we looked. She says that whole estates have been erected during the year that she was away in Britain. Currently Beijing only has 3 subway lines, but several more are being built. There is also a plan to replace all of the buses and taxis with modern vehicles. Imagine doing that in London and then add some.
Beijing was a Mongol city and the whole design is on a grid pattern, much like an American city. Although buses are the main means of transport, the system is not very user-friendly. For example, to go anywhere east, I need to take a bus going south and then change to one which is going east. I know that both buses will be more than 5 minutes walk from the cross-roads so I will have to walk for about 15 minutes between the 2 bus stops.
Everyone complains about the volume of traffic in Beijing. However I have to say that I haven't found it particularly bad. Nonetheless it seems that once it does get snarled up, it takes a long time to clear. When I travel to the school in the morning, the bus driver turns the engine off if there's a hold up. Another bus experience that I had was that the driver changed over while we were stopped at a traffic light.
Both road and pavement surfaces are in much worse condition than in Britain. This adds to the difficulty of walking anywhere, and to the phenomena of people driving on the other side to avoid obstructions. Where I get off the bus to go to the school, there is a pavement area but it is made of sand and dust without any paving. Manholes are also a little infamous - leaving the cover off is not uncommon. I have read of people falling down them and being killed. So as well as watching all the traffic as you cross the road, you also have to watch where you're putting your feet.
In London I often walk as a means of transport but here it is not very practical. This is because it takes so long to cross each road that it takes a long time to get anywhere. Some of the widest roads have pedestrian bridges. These are well-designed with a ramp to push your bike beside the steps, but of course they are a relatively slow way to cross. One day I actually took a cab to cross the fourth ring road because there was no bridge and I could see no other way of doing it.
I have not tried cycling. I think I would want to observe the traffic for another couple of months before I felt I understood the roads well enough to do it here.