Posted: 投稿者： wtanaka (648) 投稿日時： 土, 2006-06-17 07:29 | 件名: Chinese cities have been ordered to put back their cycle lanes

Chinese cities have been ordered to put back their cycle lanes in the hope of restoring the nation's image as the land of the bicycle.

The government is also considering following London's lead and introducing congestion charges to cut traffic.

"Some Chinese cities are cutting back on bicycle lanes to make more room for cars, just as some western cities are beginning to build more of them," the unusually environment-conscious vice-minister of construction, Qiu Baoxing, told a planning conference yesterday. He said China should remain what he called the kingdom of bicycles.

In Beijing alone, it is thought that more than 1,000 new vehicles take to the road every day.