The Forbidden City and San Lun Che (Tricycle)
July 13, 2010
Yesterday we got a ride in one of the motorized tricycles that are everywhere in Beijing. We had been at the Gu Gong (The Forbidden City) where it had been drizzling all day and it was time to get back to the hotel. Everyone had the same idea at the same time and there were simply no taxis to be had. It’s also useless for Western people to stand in what passes for a line in Asia; the pushing, shoving, and moving all against each other will eventually get you to your destination, but it’s real work and takes forever. So, we went along the street and found our ride in the tricycle. It was just fine and we felt like we were pretty smart in finding a ride out of the rain.
The tricycles are everywhere in the world of course, in one way or another. We used to have tricycle pedicabs in Honolulu. Here they are an important part of moving many things. Some are peddle driven, some are moped fitted, and others are almost silent electric motor driven. I saw a family of five in the back of one of the tricycles fitted with the box that makes it a little pick up truck. In the Russian neighborhoods they are dressed with red tops and gold fringes with Cyrillic script on the back. The Hutongs always have several workhorse tricycles sitting around, dusty and appearing to be the same age as the buildings. These are the vehicles that carry huge piles of construction materials from place to place. Some are delivery cars for large water bottles.
The other day while I was having my normal Xing ba ke (Starbucks Coffee) morning coffee across from my hotel, a huge tricycle came along fitted with a huge stainless steel tank on the back. Every so often one of two men in the team would take a hose from the tank and spray the landscaping with what must have been pesticide. The tricycles are of course no big deal but they are emblems of the mix of ancient pragmatism and resourcefulness with the massive building complexes and wealth that shows itself everywhere here.
