Source: CCTV.com

05-05-2008 17:15

2008 is an Olympics year and that's put so called fashion sports, like cycling right back into the popular focus. A bike is not just a means of transportation. It's a symbol of youth, style and vigor.

2008 is an Olympics year and that's put so called fashion  sports, like cycling right back into the popular focus.

People apply their own connotation to the word youth. Some think of youth in connection with vitality and pride. They may equate it to a sapling that cannot grow straight and strong if it deviates from tradition. And some -- think youth can be likened to cycling around.

The bike is imprinted on memories of the 70s in China. A shiny size 28 bike was all anyone wanted. With its running wheels and tiny pedals it became almost the dream of an entire generation.

Today, in China, there is an abundance of choices for bicycles. Young people want more than to listen to music while peddling a stationary bike in a gym. They yearn for the fresh air and the blue skies --- to cycle over extensive byways and out of the way lanes. For some cycling is a means to challenge their limits.

The bicycle has changed greatly since it was invented by German, Baron Karl Drais von Sauerbronn. The so-called "Running Machine", was first exhibited in Paris on April 6, 1818. In Beijing's Forbidden City, bicycle was an exclusive toy belonging to the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty. Now, cycling has ben transformed into a symbol of dream and passion, especially for the young people.