i rode in a "three wheeled car" today. well, that's the direct translation from mandarin. it's really just a bike with a carriage behind it. it wasn't a rickshaw. those are different. rickshaws have no bikes. just mush mush people. anyhow, i rode in a man powered bike for the first time in my life and it was pretty cool. the weather right now is pretty much perfect in beijing. it's not too hot. kind of like a sultry warm. i apparently brought some rain and the weather has been beautiful for a week. that will soon end i'm sure. probably right around the time i move to the factory. the air condition-less factory i might add. anyway, i tried to open my eyes and see the streets of beijing on our bike ride. but dust kept on blowing into my gas permeable contacts and i was forced to squint. reality is really much less exciting than the imagination. one would think that a charming bike ride through the streets of beijing at dusk would be wonderful. but i was basically trying to keep my eyes from falling out. and i was wondering if the driver was going to bust a lung going uphill.



i also had a chance to mix with the locals on a bus the other day. i went to visit some flute shops with one of the salesmen and we stood on the corner, waiting for public transportation. i can't remember the last time i took a real bus. maybe last summer? with sher wing in new york? i'm not sure. how often do we use buses to get around in the city? almost never in my experience. i can't actually say that i experienced a real chinese bus ride because we took the nice buses. with air conditioning and TVs that blared britney spears pepsi commercials. still, i like to pretend that i was a local. riding on the bus to god knows where.