Can't Get a Didi Due to New Covid Rules? Grab a Share-bike Instead!

Yesterday afternoon, it was announced that taxis and other cars for hire including Didi would not be allowed to take fares from within or going from Shunyi (excluding to and from Beijing Capital Intl. Airport) Fangshan and southern Chaoyang to other districts starting May 12.

This has left a great many people living in these areas asking: how am I supposed to get around?

Well, why not use a share-bike instead? Beijing’s flat roads make it a perfect city for cycling, and unless you’re planning on a grand expedition across town, which isn’t really advised given the current situation (unless it's an emergency, of course), most things are normally an easily cyclable distance away. 

That said, if you haven’t used the share-bikes in a while or have never used them you might have no idea what apps you need or how to unlock them so here is our guide to using the three main share-bikes in the city.

Alipay/Hellobike – Blue and White Bikes

You can use these bikes directly through the Alipay app. There is no need to download Hellobike app. 
1. Select “transport”

2. Select “bike”

3. Select “scan to ride” and scan the QR code on the bike

4. Don’t forget to slide the bar across to lock your bike when you’re finished

Meituan – Yellow Bikes

These are used through the general Meituan app – just note that it's not accessible in the Meituan Waimai app.

1. Select the bike symbol

2. Select the scan button at the bottom and scan QR code

3. Don’t forget to slide the bar across to lock your bike when you’re finished. Note that the newest version of these bikes don’t have a bar to relock. Instead, you need to go back into the Meituan app and conclude the journey.

Didi Bikes – Turquoise and White Bikes

Use your usual Didi app to unlock these bikes.

English Didi app:
1. Select “bike”

2. Select “scan to ride” and scan the QR code on the bike

3. Don’t forget to slide the bar across to lock your bike when you’re finished

Chinese Didi app:
1. Select the bike symbol

2. Select the scan button at the bottom and scan QR code

3. Don’t forget to slide the bar across to lock your bike when you’re finished

NOTE: If you’ve not used any of these share-bikes before you’ll be asked to accept permissions etc. in the app between these steps.

Things to check before unlocking:

1. Do the pedals work – give them a little nudge with your foot, if you kick them to go backwards you can see how stiff the pedals are
2. Do the brakes work? Give the breaks a squeeze to check.
3. Can you adjust the seat?
4. Generally, if the bike looks super old and dirty it’s probably not going to work that well

A couple of personal recommendations on using these bikes:

• Didi bikes tend to be heavier and more clunky so if you’re looking to go a longer distance, I’d suggest avoiding these. 
• My personal favorite are the Alipay bikes as I’ve found them to be the most reliable in terms of being quite light, easy to cycle and normally in quite good condition. The older bikes have blue baskets and are normally in worse condition, look out for the ones that have black baskets instead.
• Meituan bikes are generally ok, sometimes they can be a bit more slow and clunky than the Alipay bikes. 

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Images: Katie Coy