Cyclists seek healthy benefits from bikes(2)

"Bicycle customers have turned from being working class to the higher classes, and functions including exercising and relaxing are gradually becoming new features of bike use," said Liu.

Liu added, "Bike sales will increase with the development of people's awareness for health and environmental protection, even though cars presently dominate the market."

Cyclists may want to get on their bikes but like Qian Lu they are deterred.

Since the beginning of the year, smog has engulfed large areas of the country, mostly in its central and eastern regions, with polluted air lingering for days.

Earlier this month, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) announced that the country had its smoggiest March in 52 years, with an average of 3.3 smoggy days nationwide, 1.1 days more than the same period for previous years.

Experts have confirmed that excessive emissions from motor vehicles, coal-burning and cooking contribute to the smog.

So far, thousands of microblogs have called for a cleaner environment and a cleaner way of commuting and traveling.

"I have my Chinese dream which is to live with less smog, less polluted water and lower house prices," said economist Han Zhiguo, on his microblog on sina.com.

Vice Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Qiu Baoxing also published a signed article to appeal for more bike riders in cities as they help reduce pollution and use less road space than cars.

Gong Xiaoyan, chief of the Tianjin Bicycle and Electrocar Association, said while common bicycles priced at about 300 yuan are unmarketable, bikes as expensive as 10,000 yuan for each are popular, particularly during summer holidays.

"More Chinese people consider bicycles as part of their healthy needs," said Gong. "However, faced with the new trend of getting back on bikes, the Chinese bicycle sector still has a long way to go."