Bicycling in the Beijing roads are a magical experience. Cycling down one of Beijing’s hutongs (胡同) (ancient alleyways in Beijing) is a pleasure. And luckily, the city is a home to a large number of bicycle rental shops, especially around subway and park entrances. Each rental shop has its own specific rental policies, but we can still provide some helpful general information.

Cost Renting a bicycle should be a fairly inexpensive proposition.
The manager of “Bird of Freedom”, a well-known rental shop on historic Qianmen Ave., charges 15 RMB / day for his nicer Giant brand bicycles, while only 2 RMB / day for his shabbiest, yet still functional, and bicycles. Expect similar prices at other shops. If a shop is too expensive, simply go to another one. Deposit Foreigners looking to rent a bike should come with their passport and Chinese with their identity card. Rental shops will record your passport/identity card number and then ask for a cash deposit. Some might accept your passport/identity card as collateral, but we would advise against letting such important documents out of your possession. While bicycle rental costs are low, deposits are generally high, usually the cost of the bicycle being rented, meaning several hundred RMB. This is to be expected, as rental shops realize that even with passport/identity card numbers, law enforcement won't does anything over a missing bike.

Tips
(1) Inspect your bicycle before leaving with it. Inform the rental store manager if there is any pre-existing damage, so you won’t be held liable.
(2) The rental shop will provide you with a lock, or even two. But these locks are usually pretty flimsy. So try to park in a safe place. There are bicycle parking lots all across the city, each staffed with an attendant who guards the bikes. They cost just a few mao to park in and don’t have time limits. To avoid theft and get away from thieves the good idea would be choose a ordinary looking cycle, so that they wouldn’t be interested.