ChinaV,

I'll trade you my ordeal for yours any day. Well, yours minus your little wipeout!

As for the cost, I'm looking at that fee as something like a certificate of deposit. Regardless of what happens to the bike, as long as the rules don't change it's like, er, money in the bank. Yes, that's a big "as long as"...

At least Shanghai hasn't banned bikes outright, as quite a few cities have. I'm guessing you are far from the Guangzhou CBD, right?