The Epic Bicycle Voyage from Beida to Tiananmen on National Day

This crazy adventure started after lunch on October 1st, National Day. After eating some tasty Baozi (bread with various meat/vegetable fillings), I was walking back to Shaoyuan, the international dorm on campus, with a few friends and then George asked me if I wanted to bike to Tiananmen Square. Before this moment, I thought we would just take the Ditie (subway) and brave the huge crowds trying to make it to the Square on the day the PRC was founded. After thinking for a moment, I thought why not bike there?! It would be a great adventure and I would get to see a lot of Beijing that I'd never seen before. At that point, I was still leery of riding my bike on the street with cars, buses, and lots of other bikes everywhere. In Beijing, transportation really is just one big free for all. Anyway, we took off at around 1pm out of the Southwest gate and headed south for a while. Ha, before we left, we glanced at a map for a rough idea of the route to get there. The trip consisted of lots of weaving amongst the traffic, walking our bikes over overpasses, and trying to maneuver in the bike lane for a clear path with the other bikes. The weather was perfect for a long bike ride, it was in the high 60s with a nice breeze. Along the way, we found some interesting things. One such thing was a museum with a giant dinosaur outside. I don't think that I have ever seen a life-size scale model of a dinosaur outside of a museum before. On the way back from Tiananmen, we spotted the PLA Sing and Dance Center. Anyway, throughout the ride, I could get a real sense of the city's pulse. Starting out in the technology district near Beida quickly became residential and then finally traditional architecture came upon us. We knew that we were near Tiananmen when all of the store fronts had traditional roofing and the crowds started to pick up. Eventually we arrived at the outer wall of the Forbidden City and then came to Tiananmen Square. What a sight it was on National Day! The sidewalks leading to the square were so packed you could not see pavement. It was like my old Chinese professor said, "Ren Hai Ren Shan" (people mountain people ocean). The streets around Tiananmen were closed off in anticipation of all the people so the road was totally empty. Riding along the outside of the Square was a cool moment. Everything seemed to be in slow motion as if each frame lasted an entire minute. From the kids waving the Chinese National Flag to the massive security presence around and in the square to the families posing in front of Mao Zedong's huge portrait in the background to the beautiful flowers everywhere. It seemed surreal. After locking the bikes up, we headed out into the Square and saw a lot of special showings for the occasion. A large portrait of Sun Yat Sen was in the center of the square with large banners on his right and left. Sun Yat Sen is thought of as the founder of modern China, although he was a Nationalist, not a Communist. We also checked out the Olympics exhibition created for the holiday. There were giant hedges carved to appear like various Olympic athletes (tennis, basketball, soccer, badminton, etc.). Then, on the opposite side, was all of China's great wonders, such as the Great Wall, the Temple of Heaven, and the Forbidden City. It was quite the sight, and we didn't spot many foreigners. We were quite the popular photo-op for the Chinese tourists. It helped that I was wearing my Wo Ai Zhong Guo" shirt (I love China). Since it was written in characters, a lot of people asked me about it and wanted their picture taken with me. China's National Day reminded me of the 4th of July without the party atmosphere. Everyone celebrated their country with family and friends without all of the bells and whistles that we attach to the day in the US. I think part of it has to do with the commercialization of the holiday over the years. After the day was over, I logged about 3.5 to 4 hours on my new bike. The day was another experience I won't forget anytime soon.