Taiyuan

Capital of Shanxi province, northern China. See China.

At a glance

Source	Author	Role	In one line
#068 One reason for optimism	Diagram Club	subject	Where the young PACS campaigners give the writer his reason for hope.
#057 From China, part two: Taiyuan	Diagram Club	setting	A week of rides on the riverside Greenway and a book launch at the Laboo cycling café.
058 I Need to Address Breakfast Soups	Diagram Club	subject	Photo essay on the elevated Greenway and the city’s bike lanes.

Me with the PACS team on our cycling and filming day in Taiyuan: Sharon, Chen, Tian, and Peter.

Role: subject
In the article: The writer describes his September 2025 trip to China, mostly in Taiyuan, where most of the photos were taken. He filmed and cycled with the PACS team and attended a book launch, and he notes that the city sits in one of the country’s most polluting regions. He calls it a very significant trip.
Why it matters: The people he met in Taiyuan are the “one reason for optimism” of the title; the city’s pollution makes their work the point.

Then we cycled along the Greenway, a traffic-free path that goes under and over roadways, to Laboo, a cycling cafe.

Role: setting
In the article: A diary of a week in Taiyuan hosted by the climate group PACS. Walker rides the traffic-free Greenway along the river most days and calls it the best cycle route he has ridden; the Chinese launch of his book, a panel on greener transport and the evening club rides all happen at Laboo, a new cycling café on the Greenway that he calls his second-favourite café in the world.
Why it matters: The Greenway and Laboo are the stage for the trip’s purpose: arguing for cycling and decarbonised transport in one of China’s coal provinces. He finds riding here safer than in most UK cities.
Real vs. fictional: The Greenway and Laboo have no standard-source coordinates, so they are described here and the pin is the city.

Source: 058 I Need to Address Breakfast Soups · Original · Readwise highlight

The Greenways, both here in Taiyuan and in Chengdu, surpass anything we have in the UK.

Role: subject
In the article: A photo set of Taiyuan’s cycling: separate lanes for bikes and mopeds beside the main roads, a new cycleway, a river bridge, busy but safe-feeling junctions, and above all the Greenway, which crosses over or under every road so riders never stop. Walker notes the name may not be official and that not all of it is elevated.
Why it matters: The issue makes Taiyuan the benchmark against which he measures British infrastructure; it pairs with Chengdu.