BEIJING (BLOOMBERG) - Bicycle traffic in China's capital surged after officials shut down large parts of the subway system to contain a Covid-19 outbreak, with white-collar workers toting briefcases competing with others for two-wheelers to get around the city.

Roads in the eastern part of China's capital this week flashed back to a common scene from three to four decades ago when the closed-off Communist country was behind in the use of cars.

The revival of the former "bicycle kingdom" stems from the subway closures and orders for buses to skip stops to blunt Omicron's spread.

Commuters in the southeastern part of Beijing where most subway stations were shut turned to the phalanx of bikes parked outside of each entrance.

The bike-sharing services, typically used by tourists or for local jaunts, are maintained by Internet giants Didi Global, Meituan and others backed by Alibaba Group Holding.

The scene in Beijing, as well as eerie photos of empty streets from Shanghai, are among the more benign signs of how deeply China's Covid-Zero policy is transforming the country's biggest and most powerful cities.

Desolate streets, metal fencing and hazmat suits are visual manifestations of the dislocation that has snarled supply chains and hampered the economy during the country's battle to eradicate the virus.

Data collected by companies offering bicycle services show traffic spiked during rush hours on Thursday (May 5), the first day back to work following the five-day Labour Day holiday.

The government ramped up Covid-19 restrictions during the break, encouraging people to work from home and shutting down part of the public transportation system.

In eastern Chaoyang district, where most of the city's more than 500 infections have been found, cycling traffic surged by nearly 70 per cent on Thursday morning, China News Service reported. It cited data from Hello-inc.com, which rents out its fleet of bicycles and e-bikes via the all-in-one mobile payment app Alipay offered by billionaire Jack Ma's Ant Group.

Long before China started its dramatic rise to become the world's second biggest economy and overtake the United States as the largest market for cars, roads in China's big cities were dominated by bicycles.

In the second half of the 20th century, their dominance earned the country the "bicycle kingdom" nickname. Back then, the two-wheel vehicles were among the must-haves for newlyweds, much as apartments and cars are these days for the country's growing middle class.

In the financial hub of Shanghai, where the lockdown has slightly eased for a majority of the city's 25 million residents, bicycles are the only transportation choice available for those granted freedom to leave their homes.

Private cars still are not allowed on the roads without a government-issued permit, while subways and buses in the city remain closed.

Shortly after the Beijing municipal government announced the closure of a slew of subway stations earlier this week, netizens started posting black-and-white photos taken decades ago of hordes of bicycle riders on the streets. The joke was that this is what Beijing will look like after the Labour Day holiday ends.

For many, it has come to pass.