We awoke early and rented two bikes for 50 Yuan ($6) a piece. These
bikes were vintage 1920, with little baskets on front and a nice little
bell to ring and annoy people as we passed by. Of course we got lost.
Good thing the road signs are in Chinese. I asked a nice policeman for
directions and after much pantomime (where I attracted many onlookers
on the crowded street), I learned nothing except that Chinese police aren't
good at charades. At least the Chinese reserve a lot of road space for
bikers. That's useful when millions of people ride bikes everyday around
Beijing. We survived on our bikes by weaving around to avoid other bikers,
cars, and pedestrians while trying to find our way home. Beijing is a
great place to bike and I recommend it to everyone. Wear a helmet. After
making it back to the hotel in one piece we met Zhenming (let's just call
him my Uncle) and his wife Nancy for lunch at "grandma's." I had visited
here twenty seven years ago as a small boy. Grandma made us a delicious
lunch before we toured Tsinghua University (China's Harvard) and the Summer
Palace. We visited the birthplace of a great modern thinker. I'm talking
about that enigma called Ed. Yes, we saw the very building where my brother
Ed was born. After prostrating ourselves in front of that historical landmark,
we went out for a memorable dinner of Peking, I mean, Beijing duck. We
ate every part of that duck: brains, heart, feet, tongue. A duck's heart
is delicate, soft meat. Tasty... |