Dream machines In China's bigger cities, the rivers of bicycles—once one of the most vivid images of urban China—have been replaced with streets jammed with cars, most of them, terrifyingly, in the hands of novice drivers. By banning or severely restricting motorcycle use in these cities, China has leapfrogged the development pattern of its Asian neighbours, where the motorbike has usually provided the newly affluent with their first taste of effortless mobility. Shanghai, home to about 9m ordinary bikes, aroused a flurry of media criticism last year by banning them from main roads in the