Life today in Beijing changes in unpredictable ways for young creative people like Miki. They must find their footing and pivot skillfully between past and present cultural and historical narratives. For Miki and her friends, riding their Zero motorcycles through the city and beyond is a way to channel the old and new.
?Motorcycles can help young people in China find a creative life,? Miki says to me through the modern marvel of Google Translate. ?I live and work in Beijing. I am a make-up artist for fashion, video, and movies. There is a group of young people like me who also lead creative lives and we ride together.?

Just 15 years ago, Miki, Dong Dong and their Zero group would have ridden the streets with millions of others on a bicycle. Now the city is divided into the old and new, where glitzy Euro and American cars and fashionable motorcycles dominate. The flow of traffic in Miki?s more traditional Dong Cheng area is still calm and predictable, and it?s fun for them to ride through that history. Beijing is 6,300 square miles?20 times the size of New York City and 12 times the size of Los Angeles?with more than 21 million people. The Forbidden City sits in the center surrounded with concentric ring roads that move out 78 miles to the mountains and the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall that has stood since 1570 CE.

Miki describes her day-to-day riding with friends: ?We ride to Gui Jie (Ghost Street), the restaurant street, at night,? Miki continues. ?There are...