Day 21. 60th Anniversary of PRC
Today happens to be the 60th Anniversary of the People’s Republic of China and all of Beijing was on parade.
When I was in the US some time back, I wanted to get a Dahon
folding bicycle but the ridiculous price tag prevented me from
getting one. On this particular trip I'd seen many people
riding just the type of bike I wanted - surely there must be
someone selling them in Shanghai. I decided to get up early
and do some digging on the internet and managed to find a local
Dahon distributor.
I wasn't sure the shop would be open today, seeing that it's the
60th Anniversary of the People's Republic of China and
all of Beijing was on parade.
[President Hu Jintao on parade through Beijing (on TV)]
But given that the weather was still not on our side it was
something we could do from the comfort of a taxi.
Ray and Alex managed to find us after apparently there being
quite a few hotels by the same name in the area - who would have
thought. In any case, we went out to lunch at a small noodle
bar, where we saw noodles made by hand and without any mechanical
implement. Yes, the noodle soup was fantastic. Ray and
Alex wanted to see some more of Shanghai before their early
departure, so once again we said our goodbyes and parted
ways. We set off to find the Dahon.
We drove some 10km across town and found the shop, luckily it
was open and well stocked with Dahon models. It didn't take
long before we were all trying them out and seeing what felt good
and sturdy.
Eventually, I made my choice and started to haggle with the shop
owner, a nice young man who's English was good enough to get the
deal finalized. It wasn't long before I was laying out wads
of cash on the counter and grabbing anything I could as part of the
overall bargain price.
[Counting the Cash]
I got a Dahon for a fraction of the price I would have paid in
the States. The easiest way to get the thing home would be to
buy a suitcase and put the bike inside.
[My new Dahon folding bike]
And back at home, it fit into a standard sized suitcase without
any issues - amazing little machine. From now on, it's coming
with me on every trip.
[Dahon folded up in my suitcase]
That evening we all had a turn of riding the bike around the
hotel corridor :)
And back at home, it fit into a standard sized
suitcase without any issues - amazing little machine. From
now on, it's coming with me on every trip.