Da Cheng and the new moped

    Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to post lately.  Our VPN lost connection, and we were once again blocked by the great firewall.  We are back up and running now, and had a great weekend.  Kamala and I wanted to go exploring yesterday.  So we bundled up (because it’s like 5 degrees F outside) and took the moped out cruising.  I had seen a small shopping area in passing and wanted to check it out.  So we headed about 5 miles south of where we live and made our way there.  About half-way there the moped started kicking, meaning the battery was getting low, not usually a problem, so we kept on going.  We found the market, “Da Chang”, and it was incredible.  We walked through the entire market and found items from dog skin chaps to kitchen sinks… literally, industrial kitchen sinks.  The market was amazing, and the prices were even better.  We got a pair of chaps (not dog skin, but we almost got cat skin) for 30 kuai, that’s like $4.50. 

This is the best summary photo of life in Beijing I have taken. 

This was an army surplus type of store we found.  They had US Airforce uniforms for sale.  Who, in the middle of this Chinese market is buying these?

 The best part of the entire market was a new complex they are building across the street.  It is a shopping center that I am guessing is geared toward Westerners, because it was modeled after a Dutch village.  But, it is completely empty.  It looks like an abandoned European village in the middle of Beijing. 

After walking the whole market, we got on our moped, paid our 1 kuai for parking ($.15) and headed home.  On the way out though, a small moped shop caught our eye.  We stopped, and went in.  There was the perfect moped in there for Kamala, we had been looking for a second one, and this was perfect.  It was small, lightweight, and had a great look.  We negotiated a good price, and bought the moped.  Before we finalized the purchase, Kamala scooted up and down the market at about 35kph for a test drive while the shop owner and I waited.  As she scooted by, he said “very fast” in Chinese… I just laughed.  We then set out for home, Kamala on her moped, and me on our original.  We got a little turned around at first, and headed down the wrong road.  My battery was all ready low, and we couldn’t afford to go another mile or so out of the way.  Well, then it happened, and the battery died.  We got as much out of it as we could, but still were about 5 miles from the house.  So, we hooked up some bungies that I had brought over from the US and happened to have in my moped, and began towing.  I road the dead moped, and Kamala pulled with her new one.  She pulled me all the way home, moped and moped.  It was AWESOME.  Even though it was cold, and we almost got hit by a dozen people, and a half-dozen cars, we were laughing the entire way at out top speed of 20kph.  I feel like I have reached a new level of humility while living in China.  I remember looking at people in the US towing cars with chains and thinking they were crazy…


-JASON