Concrete, everywhere

Today's word is chengshihua. It means "urbanization," which China is experiencing in rather abrupt form. It also means that when Jim and I lived here 10 years ago, we were able to run from our (admittedly “suburban”) apartment and be in rice fields within minutes. It now means that our former residence has been thoroughly overtaken by the sprawling city. Ten years ago: 2 ring roads around the city (named, mysteriously, the Second and Third Ring Roads—I have no idea where the First one went). Now: 3 more Ring Roads (for those of you keeping count, that means we are up to the Sixth Ring Road).

Up to today the weather here has actually been quite great—clear and relatively warm. Today however it is hazy and/or cloudy--it’s hard to tell whether the haze is blocking out a blue sky or clouds—and colder. Between that and my ongoing shicha (see preceding Chinese Lesson) I was not wanting to run. However, I decided that I’d better do so after having at least one pastry too many at Bread Talk, Jim’s and my favorite bakery in China. That reminds me of the recent article in The Atlantic Monthly about China, which concluded with two (I think) “great mysteries about China.” You’d think they’d be something like “Does China seek great power hegemony or is it really just wanting a ‘peaceful rise’ as its own leaders claim?” or “What is China’s real secret to all that economic growth?” or, at least, “Does American food in China make you hungry an hour later the way that Chinese food in America does?” But no. The first mystery is how all the luxury stores in the many shopping malls manage to stay open when they never seem to have any customers. And the second is how there can be bakeries offering quite good croissants and other baked goods on every street corner in Chinese cities. This is actually true.

I decided that today I would go run in the Purple Bamboo Park, a city park about a half-mile away from where I’m staying. I figured I could do at least one lap of the park, which today I learned is exactly 1.12 miles according to my Nike speed-distance monitor thing, better known to Jim and I as the TOMS (the Thing On My Shoe). I was about halfway to the park (exactly 0.67 miles each way, says the TOMS) when I realized that I’d forgotten to bring money to buy the entrance ticket to the park. I didn’t feel like going back and climbing up to my 9th floor room to get my equivalent of a quarter, and I decided to throw myself on the mercy of the ticket taker by playing the ignorant foreigner (not too hard to do…). That was going to be tricky, since the ticket takers are inevitably taciturn middle-aged women wearing sleeve protectors. What are those for, anyway? They are ubiquitous here--bank tellers, ticket takers, bus drivers and ticket collectors, etc., all wear them. However, the fates were smiling upon me and there was no ticket taker, taciturn or not. Instead there was a sign reading “The park is free.” Score! So I entered and it was actually a lovely experience. The lake dominating the park is frozen and there were tons of people enjoying the ice using every potentially imaginable conveyance—ice skates but also sleds and other sleds that you sit on and push with poles and even contraptions that you pedal. Chinese parks are usually crowded, and today the Purple Bamboo Park was somewhat so (many were no doubt lured by the attractions of ticket-free admission, either that or not having to face Sleeve Protector Ticket Collector), but it was still a good run.

Better than yesterday’s, my first in China, where I decided to essentially run around the block—really two large city blocks that totaled a four-mile loop. The run was fine, but between dodging pedestrians and waiting for traffic it was not exactly a smooth experience. I do however enjoy the occasional drop-mouth stare I get from people, which used to be common just by walking down the street as a foreigner, but now you have to do something really crazy, like go out for a run.

It is currently 4:30 p.m. on Friday the 19th in Beijing—3:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. I’ll get this posted as soon as I can—Internet connections are very slow here, which I’ve realized is a consequence of the earthquake off Taiwan last month that apparently damaged something like 6 of the 7 undersea cables that carry trans-Pacific communications. Due to this, I have set up a Chinese email address: swesoky@sina.com. I hope also to upload photos, but that may have to wait for a better internet connection.

Over the weekend I hope to get out for a 10-miler, which may consist of 9 laps of, yes, the Purple Bamboo Park.