A crowd of more than 100 cyclists, many foreign, took off from the Sanlitun embassy district for a ride organized by the Danish Embassy to encourage Chinese to get back on their bicycles.

China was once known as the Kingdom of Bicycles. But as it has become richer, cars have crowded out bicycles, first on the roads, and now even on the cycling lanes. Riding a bike in Beijing has become dirty and dangerous, avoided by most Chinese in the city, and perhaps considered old fashioned or even something beneath them.

But that's not how cycling is seen in other parts of the world. According to Ambassador Friis Arne Petersen, cycling is considered as smart, healthy, sustainable and stylish in his native Denmark, as well as a way to reduce pollution. He said that in the capital Copenhagen, over one-third of the population use the bicycle as their major method of transportation.

"China has the biggest population in the world and huge economic growth, which is putting pressure on the country to meet its daily energy demand. I believe that China can solve this challenge if they use the experience of Denmark, and today we went on a bike ride together to promote green transportation and environmental protection," said Petersen.

Sunday's ride, dubbed the Third Climate Race, was jointly launched by the Danish Embassy, the China Bicycling Association and Yanqing county.

China in some ways remains a kingdom of bicycles. Statistics from the China Bicycle Association show that in 2011, total domestic bike production reached 83.45 million. However, the domestic market has been shrinking, and growing numbers of bikes were exported to other countries.

The Climate Race consists of two parts, a short bike ride around three kilometers in Sanlitun in the morning, and a 23-kilometer ride in the afternoon among the mountains and rivers in Yanqing county, north of Beijing.

Petersen told Metropolitan that Beijing could follow Copenhagen's example in improving the infrastructure for cyclists. "We [in Copenhagen] have really taken a number of measures to improve the facilities for biking. Each street contains separate bike pathways and separate traffic lights, which makes cycling both quick and comfortable."

Gao Saiyue, a 31-year-old photographer who participated in both rides, told Metropolitan, "The road condition of the city and Yanqing were both splendid, and I enjoyed the easy rides. But the polluted air really made me a little uncomfortable." She added that pollution is the major issue that discourages her from cycling here.

"But it's a Catch-22. People gave up cycling and started driving cars due to their concern about air pollution, but more cars create more pollution. If everyone chose to ride, the pollution would also fade away."