China pics
 

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Nick and I both attended PEA; the China experience made us better people.

What's with all the red cars?
Taxies?

Yeah, that was Nanjing. In Beijing, Miandis were still popular, especially with younger people because we could pack 6 or 7 in them and ride across town for less than Y20. Private car ownership still hadn't really caught on.

Nice pics!
BTW, are you back in China?
Leaving Shanghai for Beijing today, hopefully....

Yes, I'm also in Shanghai. TMK, there are only about 10 active posters in this sub forum now. and our two most popular threads (both visa related) are pretty much deserted. I want to get up to Beijing, but I haven't traveled at all since I got out of quarantine. Safe travels!

You finally made it (hope the Shanghai-Beijing part doesn't trip you up ...). Welcome back!

Just received my email after taking the PCR test yesterday, negative, all set to leave on Monday.......hopefully returning early March.....

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Leaving is blissfully easy, Steve, though don't count on a glamorous airport experience. Coming back was far more difficult than I possibly could have imagined. Enjoy your trip!

Not a surprise, really :)

Good luck getting up to PEK with the new cases in SHA.

A friend of mine is going there tomorrow night. He complained about the PCR test, but it only costs y55, and there tons of test locations here.

More tidbits (that I posted in the Marriott Beijing thread)

I suppose a new thread (not in the Marriott forum) might be in order,
but following are key memories:
-there was a club in Beijing called Nightman; those guys dropped Y10 notes from a spaceship
-the Den was our main Beijing hangout until 2000
-Vic's was also really cool, but that was a 3a thing
-then, we started going to Huxley's
-after Goalei and Huxley broke up, we went to Gaolei's places
-Hooters arrived on the scene, and Gaolei's waitresses jumped ship
-Shanghai wasn't nearly as cool, but it caught up with Beijing rapidly
-the Westin brunch was effectively Y175 pp, including free flow
-Face
-Crocus
-Goga
-all of Fuxing Park

I will also add that living in Pudong sucked because none of your friends are there. We could endure the trip over, but coming back was Y60 (over budget). This is a mistake you make once.

PuJersey

Yeah, that apartment was really nice, and probably costs north of $3 million now.

-Back on topic, Mix was adjacent to Vic's, but the Den guy gave us a sweet hookup at the latter (he owned both).
-During our Duke days, our professor gave each of us Y400 in cash every Friday. We didn't eat on Friday night or Saturday. Instead we jogged to the Shangri-La on Sunday mornings to go to brunch, and we stayed for the entire 3 hours.
-Nanjing was the second half of our program, as you now know; it wasn't as nice as Beijing back then, and probably isn't now either
-But, we took (5 hour trains) to/from Shanghai on weekends, often sitting on newspapers between cars
-In Shanghai, we stayed at the Pujiang for Y100 per night; I think that place now goes for $100
-It was close to New York, New York
-Portman brunch was our Sunday thing

Here are a few more spots that you guys might remember.
-I plugged "all of" Fuxing Park upthread, but the two highlights were the California Club (aka Park 97; younger sister of the place in LKF) and 钱柜 (a non kinky KTV joint)
-I somehow forgot Windows. There were several iterations, but the best one was in the sunken pit across the street from JA Temple

-the "Super Girl" cast and crew. They split their time between Changsha and the Capital, and we hung out at Kai (Gaolei was always accommodating)
-the SCMP had a Beijing bureau until about 2008; extremely smart people who had a great pulse on things
-"That's Beijing" which became "The Beijinger" for a while
-the Goose and Duck Ranch
-Fulicheng; everything south of Chang'an Jie used to be taboo because of poor 风水, but Fuli changed that perception in a big way. In particular, the dead end street about 600 meters east of 3rd Ring is a popular filming location

Thank you. :tu:
It's great to be back!!
Already went to apply for the RP Thursday, and to work on Friday.

Missed my bike as I can't really safely ride where I live in the US. It's great to see they extended the local bike paths by many, many miles!

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That's the Cape Cod Rail Trail (was serene before the Ptown event). I can't show you my bike because my mom's boyfriend sold it, but I think it might have been older than me. I will buy a new bike here next spring.

Nice! :tu:
In the US (where I am) there's ZERO [street] bicycle trails, nor are the curvy roads suited for bicycles. Basically, unless you can keep up with car speeds, you better stay off the roads.

Not Nice! :td:

Cool!
Not the cheapest, but I ended up getting mine at Decathlon.
I brought the currently installed tires and tubes (slime filled) with me from the US, and I installed a battery and an air horn! :cool:

This is my bike, waiting for my return to Handan.....
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Well, they sold their house on the Cape last month, and had a big yard sale. I'm happy that someone else will be able to enjoy it. The prospect of biking in Shanghai is honestly a little hair raising (I see scooter accidents about twice per week), but I want to try some Taihu rides next spring.

Oh okay, I thought he somehow sold it from under you, maliciously.

But you've ridden a bicycle before in Shanghai, yes?
During week #3 of quarantine I often rented one of those Alipay bicycles. Much fun, and way faster than walking!


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I don't think he fetched more than $20 for it; all is good.

Of course, but you should have seen Sergio's foot when I first met him earlier this year. It was almost completely turned around!

Yeah, I have no desire to operate any kind of vehicle on most Chinese streets. About the only thing that looks reasonable is biking from her sister's place to the subway station, that's all through a gated area that doesn't have the kind of traffic outside streets have.

Interesting.
I've been driving a car here since 2008, and find it much easier and much more predictable to drive here than in some parts of the USA, and CERTAINLY much easier than in Switzerland with its speed cameras every 200m and pedestrians walking across every pedestrian crossing without looking, and their trams, etc. etc....

Overflying PKX on approach to PEK (this morning):



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