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Why the Netherlands is the Kingdom of Bicycles

When it comes to the “Bicycle Kingdom“, we have to mention the country of the Netherlands. Bicycles are especially popular in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, where bicycles are basically the most common means of transportation for people to go out.

As a new bicycle kingdom, the number of bicycles in the Netherlands is definitely more than the population, even more in Amsterdam, with 1.3 bicycles per capita.

It’s bicycle heaven. In every bustling neighborhood of Amsterdam, you can see many citizens commuting to get off work by bicycle, not because they are poor and can’t afford a car, but more for environmental protection and exercise reasons, but also because of Amsterdam’s waterways and bridges There are many, it is inconvenient to drive, and people prefer to travel by bicycle.

The Netherlands, with a population of 16 million, has 18 million bicycles. The whole of the Netherlands has a flat terrain, which is especially suitable for cycling. The Netherlands is a densely populated country. In order to reduce traffic pressure, the government also actively guides people to choose bicycles to travel as much as possible. Over the years, the Dutch government has taken a number of steps to build bicycle lanes, develop traffic regulations and road management, further promoting the Netherlands to become the European bicycle kingdom.

Amsterdam can become a paradise for bicycles, mainly because it is positioned as a very bicycle-friendly city. There are more than 400 kilometers of bicycle lanes in the city, which are separated from roads and sidewalks, and bicycle parking spaces are everywhere. Amsterdam is arguably the most bike-friendly city in the world, and even the police patrol by bike.

I originally thought that the Dutch bicycles were indispensable for “Made in China”, but what I didn’t expect was that after many close inspections in the Netherlands, I didn’t find a bicycle made in China. The price of bicycles made in the Netherlands is very expensive, about 10 times that of bicycles made in China. The Dutch are still rushing to buy domestic products. The reason is not that the Dutch are patriotic, but that the quality of their bicycles is very good. It is said that Dutch-made bicycles only need to be pumped once every two years. If they need to be pumped every three months, it means that there is something wrong with the bicycle and should be sent for repair. And our bikes are good for gasping once a week.

There seems to be a Dutch joke that if you shout in the street, “Stop! Your bike is mine!” half the cyclists on the street are guaranteed to abandon their bikes and run away. The joke is that car theft is rampant in the Netherlands, but it also reflects the popularity of bicycles in the Netherlands from another perspective, and the Netherlands is also known as the “European Bicycle Capital”.

The Dutch are very fond of bicycles, regardless of their wealth or social status. Queen Beatrix has a soft spot for cycling, and the royal family and many senior government officials are the “leaders” of cycling in the Netherlands. During the holidays, the Queen’s family will take a car to the suburbs with beautiful scenery, put on bicycles, and all of them will be full of energy. And government cabinet ministers or MPs working in The Hague also often cycle to work.

Under the guidance of government officials, people’s lives and bicycles have become more closely related. Housewives ride their bikes to buy groceries, working-class people ride to work, and even police patrolling on bikes are commonplace in the Netherlands. In many families, bicycles are their means of transportation.