One night as I was riding in the rain, I came across an open manhole with no cover. Many times if there is a construction project, the building supplies will be dumped right in the center of the bike path. It is a great way to get around. It is hard to find an overweight Chinese and part of this must be due to all of the bicycle riding. The bicycle is a sort of social instrument for the Chinese.
Children are free to go anywhere with their bikes.
They don't have to wait for their parents to drive them. If you don't have a bike, you just hop on the back of your friend's bike. All of the Chinese have learned from an early age how to balance on the back of a bicycle. Children are always sitting on their parent's rear bike rack. As they get older, they learn to sit sideways and cross their legs like they are sitting on a chair.