Beijing

I love Beijing. We landed here Saturday night and it was like coming home. I could easily live here. With the evergreens and the mountains, it reminds me of Canada. The last time I was here was in the winter and I had forgotten how the cold, sharp air can make your lungs sing. This time, Beijing is in the first stirrings of fall and it is beautiful in spite of the smog, which is worse than Los Angeles.

Before heading out to our factory, I got up early yesterday morning and took a cab out to the only Harley dealership in mainland China. I'm pleased to share that the biker spirit is alive and kicking in Asia. I had a nice chat with the general manager who took me outside and showed me his bike. He rides an '07 Electra Glide Ultra Classic. It was a gorgeous cherry red and he had added a bunch of accessories. Even though he had changed out his pipes, Beijing noise laws had prevented him from being able to put on real rumblers. I showed him pictures of my bikes and we bonded. I ended up buying a couple of shirts and a new leather jacket from them. He was kind enough to give me a discount. Bonus.



From there, we went to the factory and had a very productive meeting. Of course, we had lunch and since they know that I like spicy food, they had the restaurant make me a special fish dish. I'm not sure that I have an esophagus left. It made my eyes water and I could have lit a cigarette with my breath.


Those black things are whole peppercorns and the red bits are dried chili peppers. This, not vitamin C, is how you kill viruses.

Anyway, we're at the airport now and off to Hangzhou where I will suffer through four miserable hours driving out to a factory, where they have probably never seen a "gui lo" (Chinese slur for caucasians). I can't bear to think what lunch might be like. Shudder. I raided the cracker and cookie bin in the airport lounge just in case. Then, we will turn around and drive four hours back. I'm charging my iPod and downloading Grey's Anatomy episodes as I write this.

Hopefully, we will get back to the hotel early enough to take a walk. Hangzhou is one of my most favourite cities in China. I'll post photos so you can see why.