June 22, 2006
Recalling the fun we had biking in Gyeongju, Leah and I decided to rent a tandem bike to enjoy Beiling Park in the northern part of Shenyang. The theory is straightforward: each person contributes their own share of pedaling power, which is summed and distributed equally, fairly to forward motion. However, in practice, one person may petal too slowly and I may petal too fast, which makes the other person (or one person) stop pedaling altogether for short periods of time. I won't even mention steering problems. After much painful practice and accusations of unequal contribution, we had the bike moving slowly along and both agreed to use individual bikes next time. A welcome break from the biking was a spacious tomb that offered nice architecture and history of the early Qing empire.
Outside of the park, we walked. Unfortunately, Shenyang is not pedestrian friendly. The city is crammed with anarchist pedestrians, bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles, cars and trucks. Basically, the biggest buses and trucks barrel through the streets (and the sidewalks!) and honk, ignoring lights, pedestrians, bikes and shockingly, the traffic police, who lamely wave orange batons at vehicles that try to run them over. Each smaller vehicle, in turn, speeds past and honks at even smaller transport. It's more than a little stressful and completely belies the peace of pleasant parks, tombs and a nearby botanical garden. It also left us with a somewhat negative impression of the city.
-David
