Biking Shanghai

Grandparents are a wonderful presence in children's lives, and the girls' are loving the extra attention. Overall, their moods are higher and they are enjoying everything a bit more. We've been joining my parents on some of their touristing, which exhausted both girls enough that we took a day off today. My parents explored China on their own - and returned in one piece - and the girls and I went about our normal routine for the day.

An added blessing of having grandparents as guests in our home is that Dave and I enjoyed a date last night with no strings attached. We did not have to be back to put the girls to bed. We did not have to wait until they'd eaten before we could leave. We did not have to return by any sort of curfew.

On a mildly steamy May evening, Dave and I took our newly acquired bikes out for a ride. We rode the busy streeets, fighting for square of pavement amongst taxis, busses, motorbikes and other riders like us. The first few blocks felt quite hectic, and the first time a taxi slammed his brakes inches from my wheels made my squeal in terror. But as we moved further into the community, the traffic lessened. We rode casually past people enjoying the cool breeze. Most apartments do not have air conditioning, and the steamy weather had pushed many people out into the open air to enjoy the breeze. Old people gathered at the exercise tables, slowly swinging their arms and watching the scene. Families walked up and down the streets, pushing children in strollers, or bouncing a ball.

We rode through Pudong - our side of the river. We rode toward Century Park - the large urban park a few miles away from our home. It turns out the park closes by 7:00 on a Sunday night, so we circled the park instead. The broad streets with trees overhanging the park-side made for a pleasant ride all the same.

The ride to the park took us through a large plaza, possibly conceived as a gathering place of some sort. On this evening, it was filled with people spinning their wheels. Young children learning to ride their bikes, older kids jumping their skateboards, adults swirling on their rollerblades, and every other combination as well. There was no set path - just people watching where they were going enough not to run into anyone else. The scene felt chaotically enjoyable, and certainly not dangerous.

Shanghai traffic much resembles that plaza of spinning wheels. People obey traffic laws only when the occasion suits them. We watch an intersection from our balcony, and people blow through the red light more often than not. People pass on the left or on the right, and whether or not sufficient room exists. People play chicken, daring you to let them by.

We rode through the plaza last night with our heads held high, watching everyone moving around us. Alert, but with no fear that we would crash - everyone else was on their alert as well. Everyone drives the same way - alert, uninhibited, but with no intention of crashing. Crossing a busy street sometimes feels stressful, but it no longer feels particularly dangerous.