Mr. Jia, a customer at Tong’s stall, talked about the dramatic changes Beijing’s bike culture has undergone since the 1970s, when bikes could only be bought with coupons handed out by government-controlled work units. “There weren’t many bikes around then, and people did repairs themselves, because they were poor.” The 1980s and early 1990s were a golden age for cycling in the city, as economic growth and the end of the planned economy brought bikes within the reach of ordinary Beijingers. “I think that was the time when you saw the most bike repairmen, even more than there are today,” Jia said. “Nowadays people prefer to buy electric bikes, or cars.”

The decline in the number of Beijing’s cyclists has created incentives for repairmen to diversify. Mr. Zhang, also from Anhui, has recently started repairing electric bikes, after 10 years of running a repair stand. “I prefer doing mechanical repairs,” he said. Mr. Zhang worked at a state-run vehicle factory in his home province before he moved to Beijing. “Mechanical repairs are probably my only hobby, apart from watching TV.”

Mr. Li also added other services to his stall in recent years, including key cutting, shoe repair, and even wheelchair maintenance. As he sews up a pair of high-heeled shoes using his tripod mounted sewing machine, a customer turns up with a wheelchair. Li abandons the shoe to assess the damage. “That wheelchair looks pretty comfortable,” remarks one of the security guards hanging out by the stall. “It’s not bad, I got it online,” says its owner.

When darkness falls, Li washes the oil from his hands in a plastic basin placed on the street, closes his stall, and trudges to the room he rents in a nearby alleyway, in time to cook dinner and catch his favorite TV show ‘”People’s Life.”

“I plan to stay in Beijing for at least a few more years” he says.

But as food and rent prices in the capital rise, and conditions in the countryside improve, Beijing’s migrant bike repairmen are increasingly feeling the lure of home, including Mr. Zhang. “I sometimes think about going back to my home town and looking for work,” he said. “I could drive a goods truck, and probably make as much money as I do here in Beijing”.

SE Bikes