287 Motorbike

Have you ever imagined that riding a motorbike can be compared to meditating? James Trapp is an expert in Chinese Education, but is also an avid biker! For most people, riding a motorbike in a city would be stressful, but for him, it is a form of relaxation and preparation for the day ahead. This leads them to discuss the transformation of Beijing, a city which used to be full of bicycles, but is now full of motorbikes and cars! In fact, this transformation is replicated in cities all across China, adding in the introduction of electric bikes, which generally have their own separate lane on the roads!

The word for “motorbike” in Chinese is 摩托車/摩托车, which is a phonetic translation, where the first two characters mean “to rub” and “to hold” or “to support” (and have nothing to do with the meaning of the word motorbike). The final word 車/车 is the word for “vehicle” and you will find this character in the words for every kind of vehicle, including bicycle, train, car, scooter!