Biking and a Banquet

This past weekend I went to buy a bike. I knew that I wanted one before even coming here and then seeing just how many people even in little Qufu bike around, I was set on getting one. Our Chinese friend from the other campus in town brought us to the walled part of the city to go to the least expensive bike store he knew. We wanted to bargain but the salesman did not at all, so we each got a bike for 270 yuan or about $40. In America that sounds really cheap but keep in mind that a week's worth of groceries for me is about 50 yuan so the bike was a lot of yuan. Still totally worth it because I love it.

It's purple with a white basket and a black bell. It also came with a lock but bike locks are different in China than in America. Instead of locking your bike to something you just put a lock around the spikes of the back wheel so that the bike can't be moved. So my first question was couldn't someone just pick up your bike and carry it away? Apparently this never happens.

So to explain biking in Qufu, I first have to explain driving in Qufu. While there is a double solid yellow line down the middle of major roads, it serves as a suggestion. If you really need to get around someone you can just go around them and drive on the other side of the road for as long as you need to. Also honking is not just for "get out of my way!" or "you're about to hit me!" like it usually is in America, honking here can also mean "I'm passing you" "I'm behind you" "I'm going to turn in front of you" or really anything. Also all vehicles participate in the honking: cars, trucks, motorcycles, motorbikes, 3-wheels carts (engine or not), bike, horse and carriage, rickshaw... every vehicle imaginable.

There is a large bike lane, equal in size to the other lanes and on major roads in town there is a divider up. But the directions are optional, so while there are bike lanes on both sides and most people go with the direction of traffic, there are a few stragglers who do their own thing. Similarly, if a car or truck really needs to pass someone they can come on in the bike lane. In short, I'm glad I brought my helmet. The only other person I've seen with one is a 2 year old practicing rollerblading on the badminton courts but I'm really ok with that.

Other than biking back from the bike store and biking to and from classes, I went on my first real bike ride today. It went much better than I thought and I was pretty pleased to just ring my bell randomly along with the crowds. I tried to bike out of town and into the countryside but I ended up by the off ramp for the highway. I kept going and found some strip mall/market alleys. I stopped at what I think was a traveling theater. It was a huge crowd of elderly people on their various kinds of bikes and a stage with people in all kinds of crazy costumes. A few people sold some things and I stayed for a bit but then decided to move on. I also biked down a side street/alley/market and then when I stopped to turn around, the lady's stand I was in front of came out and patted me on the arm and nodded, so that was nice.

I plan to go on a lot more biking adventures in and around Qufu because it's such a fun way to find new things and figure out my surroundings. But on another note...

Last night the president of the university invited all of the foreign teachers out for a banquet. We all met up and took the school's van to this very fancy hotel inside the walled city. It was a huge dinner for about 30 people and was very formal with a seating chart and everything. There were literally too many dishes served to count and many of them were typical food of the Confucius family. The presentation was gorgeous and extremely intricate. The food was also amazing. Some of my favorites were: a purple sweet potato egg roll type thing, tofu with egg and spinach, sprouts with shredded pork. But, I'm really not doing any of this justice because these are all guesses as to what they were and I have no idea how they were cooked.

I also tried Chinese wine for the first time which was a bit bitter but it grew on me by the end of the night. In typical Chinese fashion there were a lot of toasts. It was also a special night because it was the night before Teacher's Day in China (that's today here now) which is to celebrate and thank teachers. I also tried Chinese liquor. It's served in tiny wine glass looking thing that holds about a thimble worth of alcohol and it is served in this glass for a reason. It is the strongest alcohol I have ever tasted, it not just burns your throat and stomach but even your lips and tongue. It is strong but leaves a licorice aftertaste. The Chinese professors and deans were champions at shooting it back though. All in all, it was a really fun night and very generous of the president and all of the other teachers who are look after us.

By tomorrow I will have taught all of my classes at least once and will take some time to gather those thoughts and post them up.