Beijing Bicycle (and other thoughts on China)

Today, I had the privilege of having my very first Beijing Bicycle ride. As many of you know, the bike is one of the most common forms of transportation in Beijing, and probably in China as a whole. You are swarmed by bicycle riders the minute you step foot on the street, and I'm pretty sure bike riding is an art, attempted by only the brave. There is even an excellent film made called "Beijing Bicycle", depicting the story of a Beijing resident that really could be any average resident's story. If you have the opportunity, I suggest you check it out. Anyway, back to the bike. My co-worker Carmen is headed to Hong Kong for the week, so she said I could borrow her bicycle while she was gone (I really should have bought my own, but now it's too late for the investment). Regardless, I felt pretty ecstatic about this offer, and gladly took her up on it. This means INDEPENDENCE in transportation in Beijing; no crowded subway, no smelly bus, no ridiculously long walks. My own transportation. Yesssss.

So, this evening, I went for a leisurely ride. Since I'm still a newbie at city bike riding, I just rode across the street to Tsinghua University (which is now officially my favorite place in Beijing because of all the open spaces). Tsinghua is my biking paradise, because there are very few cars, wide streets, lots of other bikers, and many many trees (a rare sight for Beijing). Bike riding in Beijing is a scary thing for me; I'm used to my car and lots of room to maneuver. No such luxuries here. And, sorry to say, Carmen's bike isn't the most sturdy (sorry Carmen!), but I'm wobbling down the street, using about all the man power my little arms can muster just to stay on the road. I think it's a pretty funny sight for people to see a white blonde girl on a bike. So, I rode through Tsinghua and made my went to the center of campus where there is this beautiful lake and trees and gardens, and I had a sit in the sunshine and journaled some China thoughts. Other than the occasional blog, I haven't had much time to reflect on China, so I decided to write down a few thoughts and share them. I wrote this after reading a novel, so please forgive me if my language is a little cheesy romance novel-ish.

From the park bench where I sit, I can view all of my favorite things about China (minus the street-food!); I see a traditional Chinese structure sitting on the edge of the lake, with its ornate tile roof and up-turned corners. The building has faded from what was once a brilliant red to a dull brown, but the ornate paintings that line the top still speak strongly of the years this place has seen. Through the openness and columns of the structure, I see willow trees drooping over the lake, their stark green spring leaves reflecting on the water and swaying in the ever-present Beijing wind. And then there's the people. I think volumes could be written about the Chinese people, and still no justice would be done to the complexity that surrounds them. Right now, I'm watching the classic grandpa/grandson pair; the grandpa leads his grandson near the water, then they go chasing each other around the tree in the courtyard. I see the young couple, sitting together very sweetly and overlooking the water, always holding hands. I see the mom with her baby, naked baby butt in the air. And then from across the water, I see the inescapable reminders of poverty: the old man working hard, hauling tree branches across the park, the other old man in rags digging through to garbage to find plastic bottles to trade in for money. And these scenes to me paint a vivid picture of modern China--the inseparable space shared by progress and history, old and young generations, tradition rubbing against modernization, the wealthy and educated rubbing shoulders with those who can barely survive. I know that sounds really cliche, but that's China. A melting pot for stark contrasts, the struggle for change and progress in a system weighed down by tradition and control. How will China come out? I think the world is waiting to see!

And, as I wrote that, there was some guy taking pictures of me, and another guy drawing a picture of me. And again, that is China.