Beijing . . . it's hot.

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But not TOO hot that I would stay inside even though we're supposedly in a heat wave. The last few days have been filled to the brim. The first full day I was here I did the tourist thing and went to Tienamen square and the Forbidden City. Well it's not "forbidden" anymore (IF YOU PAY). There were thousands of Chinese tourists - and a few others - that roamed the grounds with cameras and umbrellas to block the sun (which you see everywhere). Before entering the not-so-Forbidden-City I was sitting in Tienamen Square and a group of five Chinese primary students and their teacher came up and asked if they could take pictures with me. I ended up talking with their English teacher and touring the Forbidden City with them, after going to a ridiculously huge mall to eat (they got KFC, I got Chinese).

Yesterday I rented an old-school bicycle for 10 Yuen for the day from an extermely friendly man who offered Chinese lessons. We ended up talking for over an hour about words in English and how to use them correctly as well as my travel plans and life back home. Riding in Beijing is A BLAST. The bike lanes on the 2nd and 3rd ring roads must have been at least 50 feet wide and in perfect condition. If you ride along with the locals - and you have no choice because there's so many - you learn quick how to maneuver through the heavy traffic. The cars know how to handle bikes fairly well but you're deffinitely riding defensively 95% of the time, and the other 5% is when you have to moved through stopped traffic or ahead of a bus when it's pulling out. Sometimes riding through a red light is safer than riding through a green one . . . odd. The man who rented me the bicycle reccomended a market in east Beijing. I don't know if I found it, but I ate some delicious street food, tried to ride back, and ended up in west Beijing completely lost. Everyone I talked to, including the police, had different directions for me and my map didn't seem to help very much. Thankfully I finally got good directions, but by the time I made it back to the maze of hutongs where my hostel is located I was exhausted and dehidrated so I wandered around for another half hour or so before I made it back to the hostel and jumped in the shower. All in all the 6+ hour adventure was worth it, but I hope it never happens again (minus the bike riding which was a blast . . . for the first 3 hours).

Today I visited the beautiful Summer Palace, a gigantic garden (we're talking many miles square) on a huge lake filled with temples, relics, a 40ft marble boat, and of course plenty of interesting people and people who found me interesting. I'll post some pictures and video of these last few excursions later. Some things I love about the Chinese that I feel Americans should adapt into our daily lives:

1. Chinese take naps everywhere. On the grass, on the bus, in the tunnels used to cross under busy streets, on trikes used to haul stuff, and sitting in chairs in front of their homes. Naps are great, summers are hot. Take a nap.

2. Similarly, the Chinese sit down, or squat, wherever they want to take a rest. More people in America need to rest on the sidewalk, we're always racing everywhere to get things done.

3. Umbrellas. They make things more fun, even when it's not raining.

4. There's more, I can't think of anything else at the moment.

People are waiting to use the internet . . . I'm going to find a Hip Hop club called Mix tonight and take my first Beijing subway ride (!).

Peace & Love.

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Comments

[Elsbeth]

Thanks for posting another chapter of your amazing adventure! I am so happy you got to rent a bike and experience such incredible bike lanes! Wish ours were as well kept up. I don't suppose you rented a helmet also. ;) I love that you are talking with different people and it must have been so much fun to go to the Forbidden City with the school children! Ohmygoodness ,what an adventure getting back to your hostel was. You must be drinking so much water with the hot temps. Do they sell water lots of places like you thought or is it hard to find? I imagine you will get lost many times on this adventure of yours. ~smiles~ The oiled paper Chinese umbrellas are so beautiful with the painted designs and the handwork on the inside. Did you know they last for years? Have a great time at the Hip Hop club tonight and I can't wait to hear about the subway! Love you, mom oxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxo

[Sherry holtzman]

Not too hot on Cypress
Dear Harrison, so great to hear of your adventures. Soundslike you're having slot of interesting interactions. Ofcourse I your solo status must promote this. We are on the sailboat on CypressIslandlooking across the bay at glistening Mt Baker and the Twins. We sailed up from Seattle yesterday and will head on to Bellingham tomorrow. So happy July 4th ! I shared your story with skip and Wendy and we all enjoyed. We are taking your advice and resting alot! Love and hugs , Sherry

[Melanie]

GAH, JEALOUSY. If you ever take an epic trip again, you need to bring me along with you. I love the details you choose to include in your blog... particularly how the people you ate with chowed down on KFC. American food is everywhere, it's kind of unfortunate.

[jos]

now you really can get a motercycle!