Katie says:

"We were being shown around Beijing by our interpreter, who also has a qualification as a tourist guide, and was a very sweet girl. She was holding a microphone on the bus and telling us how old the dynasties were, how many people lived in Beijing now, and various other facts, such as "there are nine million bicycles in Beijing". Mike immediately wrote this down as a potential song title and he wrote this song a couple of weeks later, back in England, not long before we finished the album. On the track is the masterful Adrian Brett, who plays all the ethnic flutes. On this track he used an ocarina for the low (first) sound you hear, and a chinese bamboo flute for the very piercing, high flute sound. Mike first met Adrian in 1978 when Adrian played ethnic flutes on Mike's "Caravans" album. He plays most nights in the London production of "Lion King".

I like this song because it is a simple juxtaposition of a trivial idea ("Nine Million Bicycles") against an important idea ("I will love you til I die").