"Every evening on Chang'an Avenue in Beijing, racing bikes and shared bikes glide past the iconic Tiananmen Square under sparkling lights, painting an enchanting picture of the double Olympic city," the official Xinhua News Agency (Chine Nouvelle) enthused in a dispatch on August 7, 2022.

On spring and summer evenings, when the heat subsides and cars disappear, thousands of cyclists continue to converge on the avenue that cuts the Chinese capital in two, enjoying the thrill of crossing a symbol of power briefly at rest.

Chang'an stretches 45 kilometers long and 100 meters wide, running east to west across Beijing. It skirts the skyscrapers of Guomao, near the Second Ring Road, then heads toward Tiananmen Square, passing between the Great Hall of the People and the Gate of Heavenly Peace of the Forbidden City, where Mao Zedong's portrait has hung since 1951. The avenue thus crosses the political heart of Beijing, then continues on to the industrial suburbs of Shijingshan. The most dedicated push onward to the Jietai Buddhist Temple, built in the Tang dynasty on Mount Ma'an, 11 kilometers further.

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