China · Beijing (photographed) / Undated · photographed 2011
Flying Pigeon bicycle
A machine for a slower morning
Contemporary Beijing street photograph; the manufacture date of this individual bicycle is not established.
Converted to WebP, auto-oriented, maximum width 1200 pixels, quality 82; no content retouching.
The Flying Pigeon became one of the most recognizable bicycles in twentieth-century China. This photograph records one machine in Beijing in 2011, not the factory or the moment of production. A bicycle is a small infrastructure of daily life: it carries bodies, goods and time. Its political history includes who could afford one, who repaired it, and which streets it was allowed to use.
- Date
- Undated · photographed 2011
- Maker / designer
- Flying Pigeon; individual maker unknown
- Material
- Steel, rubber, paint
- Context
- A Chinese bicycle in later use; the individual machine’s manufacture date is not established.
Evidence: Date not established · Place is the photograph location
Historical record
- The photograph was taken in Beijing in 2011.
- The individual bicycle’s manufacture date and model are not established here.
- The image documents a later use, not the factory or the period of production.
