Beijing Transports II

I always try to have my mobile phone or camera ready when I ride my bicycle through the streets of Beijing, and that's everyday. A bicycle offers the perfect vantage point to be able to capture the amazing images that are all around me. I have made so many photos of various types of vehicles that one blog posting is not enough, so welcome to Beijing Transports ll (and possibly lll).

Beijing is full of migrant workers coming from all over the country’s rural areas. These are the people that make, alter, and operate the majority of these vehicles. Many of their carts are works of art in themselves, but are made for purposes of survival, not for museums. Perhaps these are the people that pulled the rickshaws 100 years ago. I see the beauty of their ingenuity, persistence, and dedication, but also know their lives are not easy. Even though they find a way to survive and to help their families back home it is still a hard life. And yet, they have become a part of the fabric of Beijing and other metropolises across China.

I love to eat from their carts, have the men fix my bicycle tires, buy pottery or coconuts or vegetables from the back of their wagons. If I need a bottle of water, there is not one far away! It has become a part of my day as well as millions of other urbanites. Autumn is coming and soon there will be chestnuts roasting on hot stones in steel drums on the backs of countless Beijing transports. –-James Elaine