Today's links: Chairman-less currency, booming bicycles and free Olympic Bibles

• Move over Mao! The Beijing Olympic stadium is taking over as symbol of China pride, at least on newly-issued 10 RMB notes, which feature the stadium and Greek statuary, but no portrait of the Chairman. Mao’s absence from the currency marks the first time in nearly a decade that he hasn’t been prominently featured on Chinese cash.
• Mao’s image may be on the decline, but there is one thing China will never relinquish — the bicycle. The vehicle’s prominence and popularity continues despite the fact that big cities are getting less and less bike-friendly. We would say that’s an understatement in Shanghai, where two-wheeling it downtown is likely to cost you a lot more than a cab fare.
• Preservation is not usually the top priority in forward-thinking Shanghai, but historic space meets development innovation in the new Jianyeli project, which targets shikumen-style housing from the 30s in Xuhui District. The neighborhood, one of the largest collections of traditional homes left in the city, aims to turn the area into an upscale hotel, doing for tourist accommodations what Xintandi did for expat shopping.
• Tickets may be expensive, but there’s one thing you can get absolutely free at the Olympics this August: the Bible. Tens of thousands of copies of the holy book have been printed for distribution, say members of China’s Christian society. The news comes as a surprise for many who expected more government restriction of religious paraphernalia at the games.
• Surprise! There are rich people in China. While this revelation won’t come as a shock to anyone who’s dined on the Bund recently (or read our blog) the statistics are pretty astounding — a 20% rise in the number of Chinese millionaires in 2006.

Photo from indrasensi