Odds and Ends at the end of June

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It's been hot and humid but since it is the rainy season, I guess that is acceptable. I've put some photos up on the Picasa site (http://picasaweb.google.com/arasmuss). A bit of a mix; some from earlier and some very current. We biked around Suzhou a bit last weekend and will probably do the same this weekend if it doesn't rain. The bike paths are good and fairly safe. The main problems are just outside our door on Shiquan Jie but once we get beyond that, we're OK. Generally we go across campus to the east gate rather than worry about the traffic on our own street. The problem with Shiquan Jie is that it is very narrow and is lined with lovely old sycamores (I think) . The result is that the buses have to drive down the centre of the road which slows things down considerably. As a result, taxis and cars try to bypass the situation by driving in the bike lanes which is an issue. As well, many cyclists go the wrong way in the bike lane and, for most of the electric bike riders, the idea of slowing down is not known. Either 20 km or stopped seems to be the rule. Henning wouldn't let me get an electric bike for some reason. I blame it on the price but he argues that I wouldn't be safe. Since I have yet to figure out what the rules are, if any, he might be right.

However, once we are out of the worst of the old city, the situation changes. The streets are big and wide and not very busy. Not that many people have cars yet so the situation is manageable. The ride around Jinji Lake is pleasant and very safe but it got a bit too hot last Saturday so we only went over to Panmen Gate on Sunday. Panmen is the only gate left in the city wall and there is a lovely garden and amusement park associated with it. We haven't really gone in yet; we'll wait until Hannah comes now. I took some photos of the lions along the canal and have posted them on Picasa

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