Cruising in Xiamen

by Dennis Overdiek

In Xiamen there are lots of ways to get around the city. Public transportation is cheap and can get you almost everywhere in the city, but if you really want to explore every little piece of the city the best way to get around is to drive an E-Bike. Traffic in Xiamen can be quite dangerous, cars switching lanes at random, taxis and busses that try to cut you off, you have to dodge all traffic while at the same time trying to dodge the huge potholes in the road. Because of safety concerns it’s actually not allowed to drive an e-bike on Xiamen Island, but the police almost never stops you over.

From Check-IT group 11, about nine people have bought an E-bike and we go cruising together more than often. We have found the most interesting places while driving, usually we try to memorize the interesting locations so we can go back there when we want. Sometimes we drive to the beach to hangout over there, or just drive around the city. This way you get to see parts of the city you wouldn’t have seen otherwise.

A lot of times we have wound up on the other side of the island without power and had to look for a speed charger. These chargers hang all around the city at small repair and scooter shops. It takes about 30 minutes to charge an e-bike enough to get home, so usually we leave our e-bikes at the shop and walk around the area. This way we get to see lower class areas of the city and see more of the local people and how they go about their daily lives. This gives us a much wider perspective of the Chinese culture and the Chinese people and helps us get a better understanding of life in China.