Danish embassy holds 'Climate Race' in Beijing

BEIJING, May 25 (People's Daily Online) Sponsored by Royal Danish Embassy in China, the "Climate Race", a bicycling event dedicated to promote healthy lifestyle and environment protection, was opened in a drizzle on May 24, 2014. This is the fourth time that the Danish Embassy in China has organized such bicycling activities in Beijing.

Ambassador Peterson opened the event at the embassy and introduced Denmark's experience in promoting bicycling in his speech. With traffic design favorable to bicycle riders, nearly half of the citizens in Copenhagen take bicycle as their primary choice of transportation. Bicycling is considered a smart and healthy lifestyle in Denmark and the country plans to become fossil fuel-free by 2050.

Ambassador Petersen together with other VIP guests took part in the first round of ride in downtown Beijing after the opening ceremony.

A longer race of 12 kilometers, with more than 200 participants from local bicycle clubs, took place in Yeya Lake National Wetland Park in Yanqing County, north of Beijing later on the same day.

According to Zhang Suzhi, deputy mayor of Yanqing County, Yanqing aims at becoming "the No.1 County for bicycling in China", and has built many infrastructures for bicycling, such as professional cycle tracks and bicycle rental stations. These high-standard infrastructures and the beautiful landscape near the Great Wall have attracted many international cycling races to Yanqing. 

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