Born in Japan as the 'man-powereed vehicle' or jinrikisha, the rickshaw later metamorphosed into the cycle-rickshaw. Whether it's called a trishaw, sidecar, pedicab, cyclo or becak, it's the true Asian taxicab.

Inveterate Asia travelers Tony Wheeler and Richard I'Anson chased rickshaws through 12 Asian cities. The riders they encountered ranged from old men in Penang to teenage, would be jeepney drivers in Manila.

In text and photographs the book visits rickshaws pullers' dormitories in Calcutta, tracks down the artists who paint the dramatically colorful rickshaws of Dhaka, locates the scrapyard where confiscated rickshaws await their fate in Hanoi and rides with the city official who supervises riding tests in in Penang.

Rickshaws, their riders and their customers have been studied by engineers, evaluated by transport economists and analysed by sociologists. They're celebrated in this book.