Beijing is the setting of the movie Beijing Bicycle. Beijing is located in Northeastern China. It is the political, educational, and cultural center of the People’s Republic of China. Its population is around 17.4 million people. This film does a great job at showing the viewer many different things geographically about this region. There are many examples of cultural, environmental, and economical geography in Beijing Bicycle.
Economically we see many different levels of social class. Early in the film it is shown that rural-urban migration is present. Many come from outside farming communities to find work to survive. In the first scene of the film the countrymen are applying for the bike delivery position. You can assume from their nervousness that they may have never applied for a job and quite possible are uneducated. In this film I noticed a distint prejudice attitude toward the country migrators. They seem to be really looked down on. Guei's friend even tell him that, "the trick is, not to let anyone know you're not from here", reffering to their neighborhood. We see the living conditions of this social class in Guei’s neighborhood. These families have their own living areas, but all other areas seem to be communal. The buildings they live in seem to be connected or nearly on top of each other. There are skinny roads that go through these communities and look something of a maze. Water seems to be short supply and faucets are found outside and shared by many neighbors. Even Guei and his friend share a tooth brush in a scene. As Guei starts his new job as a bicycle delivery man he begins to see new luxury style places and you can tell he has never seen anything like them. This is ever so present when Guei does not know how to navigate through a revolving door. As we see Guei working as a bicycle delivery man we realize the bicycle is an important means of transportation in Beijing.
Bicycles are seen in very high numbers in the film. Bicycles are the number one mode of transportation in Beijing in front of cars and public transportation. There are an estimated 10 million bicycles in Beijing. Bicycles actually in the past were relied on more, but automobile usage has increased. It was common site for bicycles to cover the streets from side to side. Now bicycles are restricted to bike lanes which are quite wide. In the film we see that there are actually traffic lights specifically used for cyclist. They look like an ordinary traffic signal but have an image of a bicycle in each light. In the film we also see examples of how bicycles are utilized for many things other than going somewhere. We see people using there bikes as vendors and also we see the bicycle as a mode of moving things. Refrigerators, furniture, and a mattress are seen being moved throughout the city in the film. There are many common areas where citizens’ store there bikes. In the scene where Guei gets arrested for allegedly stealing a bicycle, he is looking through a common bike storage area. Streets are also littered with bike racks filled with many bikes. You could say bicycles are a big part of Beijing’s culture.
Culturally we do see a few things that represent the area. Tai Chi is seen performed in two scenes. Tai Chi is a Chinese exercise technique that uses smooth and slow body movements that relax the body and the mind. Also in a scene at Jian’s school we see basketball courts in the background. Basketball is becoming more and more popular in China. Yao Ming who plays in the NBA was a big part in the spring board of the sport in China. Recently the 2008 summer Olympics were held in Beijing and basketball was one of the more popular events. Many believe that basketball may not be far from becoming the most watched and played sport in China. In the last chase scene in the film you can see a group of older gentlemen gathered around a board game with wooden moving pieces. I am not sure what it was but I think it may have been chess. A Chinese chess board looks much different than our version of chess board. Chess is also a popular sport in China and China places very well in competitions with the rest of the world.
Lastly I wanted to comment on a couple things I found interesting from the film. First I was curious if there was a big problem in Beijing with bicycles being stolen. Turns out it is quite a problem. I found a stat on a web site that stated that in the months leading up to the Olympics that law enforcement had cut bike thefts in half from 4 million to 2 million bikes stolen in a 9 month period. There are actually bike theft gangs. It is so common for your bike to get stolen that most people don’t even report the thefts to the authorities. The government is implementing a plan for bicycle registration numbers to prevent the theft and resale of the bicycles. Another thing I was intrigued by was the seen where Jian is taken in the trees by his girlfriend. She is looking up at the sky at the sun like it is a rare sight. This made sense; they probably rarely get a look at the sun with all the smog in the area. China is the 2nd largest producer of greenhouse emissions in the world and are projected to overtake 1st from the United States. China is industrializing at record pace and air pollution issues will increase. With acid rain and many documented respiratory issues, this will be one of Beijing’s biggest challenges in the years to come.
Beijing is the setting of the movie Beijing Bicycle. Beijing is located in Northeastern China. It is the political, educational, and cultural center of the People’s Republic of China. Its population is around 17.4 million people. This film does a great job at showing the viewer many different things geographically about this region. There are many examples of cultural, environmental, and economical geography in Beijing Bicycle.
Economically we see many different levels of social class. Early in the film it is shown that rural-urban migration is present. Many come from outside farming communities to find work to survive. In the first scene of the film the countrymen are applying for the bike delivery position. You can assume from their nervousness that they may have never applied for a job and quite possible are uneducated. In this film I noticed a distint prejudice attitude toward the country migrators. They seem to be really looked down on. Guei's friend even tell him that, "the trick is, not to let anyone know you're not from here", reffering to their neighborhood. We see the living conditions of this social class in Guei’s neighborhood. These families have their own living areas, but all other areas seem to be communal. The buildings they live in seem to be connected or nearly on top of each other. There are skinny roads that go through these communities and look something of a maze. Water seems to be short supply and faucets are found outside and shared by many neighbors. Even Guei and his friend share a tooth brush in a scene. As Guei starts his new job as a bicycle delivery man he begins to see new luxury style places and you can tell he has never seen anything like them. This is ever so present when Guei does not know how to navigate through a revolving door. As we see Guei working as a bicycle delivery man we realize the bicycle is an important means of transportation in Beijing.
Bicycles are seen in very high numbers in the film. Bicycles are the number one mode of transportation in Beijing in front of cars and public transportation. There are an estimated 10 million bicycles in Beijing. Bicycles actually in the past were relied on more, but automobile usage has increased. It was common site for bicycles to cover the streets from side to side. Now bicycles are restricted to bike lanes which are quite wide. In the film we see that there are actually traffic lights specifically used for cyclist. They look like an ordinary traffic signal but have an image of a bicycle in each light. In the film we also see examples of how bicycles are utilized for many things other than going somewhere. We see people using there bikes as vendors and also we see the bicycle as a mode of moving things. Refrigerators, furniture, and a mattress are seen being moved throughout the city in the film. There are many common areas where citizens’ store there bikes. In the scene where Guei gets arrested for allegedly stealing a bicycle, he is looking through a common bike storage area. Streets are also littered with bike racks filled with many bikes. You could say bicycles are a big part of Beijing’s culture.
Culturally we do see a few things that represent the area. Tai Chi is seen performed in two scenes. Tai Chi is a Chinese exercise technique that uses smooth and slow body movements that relax the body and the mind. Also in a scene at Jian’s school we see basketball courts in the background. Basketball is becoming more and more popular in China. Yao Ming who plays in the NBA was a big part in the spring board of the sport in China. Recently the 2008 summer Olympics were held in Beijing and basketball was one of the more popular events. Many believe that basketball may not be far from becoming the most watched and played sport in China. In the last chase scene in the film you can see a group of older gentlemen gathered around a board game with wooden moving pieces. I am not sure what it was but I think it may have been chess. A Chinese chess board looks much different than our version of chess board. Chess is also a popular sport in China and China places very well in competitions with the rest of the world.
Lastly I wanted to comment on a couple things I found interesting from the film. First I was curious if there was a big problem in Beijing with bicycles being stolen. Turns out it is quite a problem. I found a stat on a web site that stated that in the months leading up to the Olympics that law enforcement had cut bike thefts in half from 4 million to 2 million bikes stolen in a 9 month period. There are actually bike theft gangs. It is so common for your bike to get stolen that most people don’t even report the thefts to the authorities. The government is implementing a plan for bicycle registration numbers to prevent the theft and resale of the bicycles. Another thing I was intrigued by was the seen where Jian is taken in the trees by his girlfriend. She is looking up at the sky at the sun like it is a rare sight. This made sense; they probably rarely get a look at the sun with all the smog in the area. China is the 2nd largest producer of greenhouse emissions in the world and are projected to overtake 1st from the United States. China is industrializing at record pace and air pollution issues will increase. With acid rain and many documented respiratory issues, this will be one of Beijing’s biggest challenges in the years to come.
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