This is May week in China, when no work happens and people visit their families, or have their families visit, and I decided to make the most of the down time to take a long bike ride and explore Beijing, praying for my safety on future journeys at a Catholic Church on Sunday evening. I had wanted to issue the press release about opening the China office this week, but felt that all was not quite ready. I have decided not to appoint the candidates interviewed so far, and with May week the remaining candidates had all left for their various hometowns or were with their family in the Capital. I asked Benjamin, the tall lad from Guangdong, to translate the
EASTWEST website as a test and even with my limited Mandarin questioned his grasp of the subject. Nicole confirmed my suspicion and edited the copy, but for the unanticipated reason that she thought his Chinese to be ‘too English’ – his year in Newcastle had apparently corrupted his putong hua. I was in the alarming position of being an Englishman in China asking a Philippino web developer to upload Guangdong Mandarin onto a server in Singapore; the absurdity drove me to leave the office in search of my old bicycle.
I own two of the 8,000,000 bicycles reportedly pedalled along the dusty streets of Beijing. The first one, a Hong Jiu cycle, was bought in 2004 for RMB300, and had been given to Nicole. Apparently unwanted it sat forlorn on the Beijing Culture and Language University Campus in north Beijing, and I couldn’t bear the thought of my former pride and joy left to rust. I found the once beautiful cycle uncherished and dirty dirty under a Cyprus tree, but as if grateful for my return, the wheels spun into life as I pointed her south towards Tiannanmen and home. Cycling in Beijing reminds me of Amsterdam, where bikes have a rightful place as a respected mode of transport, with lanes, lights, and priority rights; which admittedly are often faced with de facto superiority of 2 million plus cars in the city. Statistics from the China Bicycle Association (???????) indicate that bicycle production reached 53.57 million units in 2005, up nearly 40 percent from 32.86 million in 2000, with orders for some 3.9m bikes being taken at the recent Tianjin bike fair alone last month. China’s rapid rise has lead Taiwanese companies to form an integrated marketing alliance with their component suppliers and to move to sell higher value two wheel conveyances. As in other industries, China is being seen as the low cost producer of bikes, with an average unit price of US$32.65 last year, with my Hong Jiu coming in at US$37.5 and my recent acquisition of an orange foldaway bike at US$25 (RMB200).
Bikes though are not just for people like me to amble along the streets of Beijing, they perform a vital number of roles in the city. Cycling the 20 miles from Wudaokou to Jian Wai SOHO I saw bikes used as mobile restaurants, road sweepers, tourist transport, water carrier, coal bunker, people carrier and even a living room on wheels. It is easy when driving around in a taxi at 100km/hr to miss the people who are travelling on the underpasses at 10km/hr, enjoying the flatness of Beijing’s contours and the free energy of pedal power. After expending so much energy on cycling across Beijing, I felt like some sitting down activity and went with a friend to watch ‘Firewall,’ the Harrison Ford movie – this was my first ever cinema experience in China. The tickets for the latest blockbuster were far from sold out, and not sold on-line, as this
was in English only. Tickets were RMB40 (US$5) which Ting, my companion for the evening, commented was 20% of the average Beijing person’s monthly salary. Popcorn and coke added a further RMB28 (US$3), making this a comparatively extravagant night out. “The police in America always arrive after the crime is solved,” commented Ting – who hasn’t ever lived in America and therefore has her opinion formed by the Silver Screen. While The Motion Picture Association of America has struggled to get more films past Chinese censors, it occurred to me that it perhaps should be the Americans who censure movies for export, banning movies in which housewives pack .38 calibre guns in their SUV and urban family homes can be invaded at will by assault teams who seemingly continue to outwit the authorities and reduce the neighourhood to a scene from ‘Apocalypse Now’.
My Mother and Sister arrived in a gun-free Beijing, early on Friday morning. I waited at the airport with flowers, lovingly arranged by 3 young ladies at a market nearby Jian Wai SOHO. There is no Interflora as far as I can find, and flower buying takes place in huge halls where stall holders compete vigorously for business, although the unit price for flowers seems fairly fixed. The young woman in the middle has run the stall by the canal for 3 years, and with her friends managed to conjure up amazing bouquets sprayed with dew, something that the dusty streets of Beijing never see. With my mother, Jill, and sister, Shelley, we spent the latter part of May week exploring the different quarters of Beijing, and in two days merely scratched the surface. As if it were Easter Sunday, we went to St. Michael’s neo-gothic Catholic Church on Dongjiaomin xiang, just south of Tian an men square. A congregation of some 100 people of assorted ages sat, kneeled and stood in sequence as the priest gave the service in Mandarin lit by Philips power saving bulbs; with us following by actions not understanding the words. “To think that this church and these people survived all those years of repression and denial,” commented Jill, and “and now they can worship openly.” Ironically the church is just 5 minutes walk away from the Forbidden City with the huge painting of Chairman Mao whose party banned religion, and over the road from the barracks of the China police force. As we went to leave, I prayed for the well being of my family, a quality candidate for EASTWEST, and road safety.
NOTES: See Beijing Diaries Volume I ‘A Sporting Chance’ 3 April 2004 Taipei Times. 'New thinking revives bike firms' march 10 2006. China daily. ‘Bicycle show concluded’ 28 march 2006 ibid Ibid Beijing average salary is still US$1250 per year.
This is May week in China, when no work happens and people visit their families, or have their families visit, and I decided to make the most of the down time to take a long bike ride and explore Beijing, praying for my safety on future journeys at a Catholic Church on Sunday evening. I had wanted to issue the press release about opening the China office this week, but felt that all was not quite ready. I have decided not to appoint the candidates interviewed so far, and with May week the remaining candidates had all left for their various hometowns or were with their family in the Capital. I asked Benjamin, the tall lad from Guangdong, to translate the 
EASTWEST website as a test and even with my limited Mandarin questioned his grasp of the subject. Nicole confirmed my suspicion and edited the copy, but for the unanticipated reason that she thought his Chinese to be ‘too English’ – his year in Newcastle had apparently corrupted his putong hua. I was in the alarming position of being an Englishman in China asking a Philippino web developer to upload Guangdong Mandarin onto a server in Singapore; the absurdity drove me to leave the office in search of my old bicycle. 
I own two of the 8,000,000 bicycles reportedly pedalled along the dusty streets of Beijing. The first one, a Hong Jiu cycle, was bought in 2004 for RMB300, and had been given to Nicole. Apparently unwanted it sat forlorn on the Beijing Culture and Language University Campus in north Beijing, and I couldn’t bear the thought of my former pride and joy left to rust. I found the once beautiful cycle uncherished and dirty dirty under a Cyprus tree, but as if grateful for my return, the wheels spun into life as I pointed her south towards Tiannanmen and home. Cycling in Beijing reminds me of Amsterdam, where bikes have a rightful place as a respected mode of transport, with lanes, lights, and priority rights; which admittedly are often faced with de facto superiority of 2 million plus cars in the city. Statistics from the China Bicycle Association (???????) indicate that bicycle production reached 53.57 million units in 2005, up nearly 40 percent from 32.86 million in 2000, with orders for some 3.9m bikes being taken at the recent Tianjin bike fair alone last month. China’s rapid rise has lead Taiwanese companies to form an integrated marketing alliance with their component suppliers and to move to sell higher value two wheel conveyances. As in other industries, China is being seen as the low cost producer of bikes, with an average unit price of US$32.65 last year, with my Hong Jiu coming in at US$37.5 and my recent acquisition of an orange foldaway bike at US$25 (RMB200). 
Bikes though are not just for people like me to amble along the streets of Beijing, they perform a vital number of roles in the city. Cycling the 20 miles from Wudaokou to Jian Wai SOHO I saw bikes used as mobile restaurants, road sweepers, tourist transport, water carrier, coal bunker, people carrier and even a living room on wheels. It is easy when driving around in a taxi at 100km/hr to miss the people who are travelling on the underpasses at 10km/hr, enjoying the flatness of Beijing’s contours and the free energy of pedal power. After expending so much energy on cycling across Beijing, I felt like some sitting down activity and went with a friend to watch ‘Firewall,’ the Harrison Ford movie – this was my first ever cinema experience in China. The tickets for the latest blockbuster were far from sold out, and not sold on-line, as this 
was in English only. Tickets were RMB40 (US$5) which Ting, my companion for the evening, commented was 20% of the average Beijing person’s monthly salary. Popcorn and coke added a further RMB28 (US$3), making this a comparatively extravagant night out. “The police in America always arrive after the crime is solved,” commented Ting – who hasn’t ever lived in America and therefore has her opinion formed by the Silver Screen. While The Motion Picture Association of America has struggled to get more films past Chinese censors, it occurred to me that it perhaps should be the Americans who censure movies for export, banning movies in which housewives pack .38 calibre guns in their SUV and urban family homes can be invaded at will by assault teams who seemingly continue to outwit the authorities and reduce the neighourhood to a scene from ‘Apocalypse Now’. 
My Mother and Sister arrived in a gun-free Beijing, early on Friday morning. I waited at the airport with flowers, lovingly arranged by 3 young ladies at a market nearby Jian Wai SOHO. There is no Interflora as far as I can find, and flower buying takes place in huge halls where stall holders compete vigorously for business, although the unit price for flowers seems fairly fixed. The young woman in the middle has run the stall by the canal for 3 years, and with her friends managed to conjure up amazing bouquets sprayed with dew, something that the dusty streets of Beijing never see. With my mother, Jill, and sister, Shelley, we spent the latter part of May week exploring the different quarters of Beijing, and in two days merely scratched the surface. As if it were Easter Sunday, we went to St. Michael’s neo-gothic Catholic Church on Dongjiaomin xiang, just south of Tian an men square. A congregation of some 100 people of assorted ages sat, kneeled and stood in sequence as the priest gave the service in Mandarin lit by Philips power saving bulbs; with us following by actions not understanding the words. “To think that this church and these people survived all those years of repression and denial,” commented Jill, and “and now they can worship openly.” Ironically the church is just 5 minutes walk away from the Forbidden City with the huge painting of Chairman Mao whose party banned religion, and over the road from the barracks of the China police force. As we went to leave, I prayed for the well being of my family, a quality candidate for EASTWEST, and road safety. 
NOTES: See Beijing Diaries Volume I ‘A Sporting Chance’ 3 April 2004 Taipei Times. 'New thinking revives bike firms' march 10 2006. China daily. ‘Bicycle show concluded’ 28 march 2006 ibid Ibid Beijing average salary is still US$1250 per year.