After a service at the Nanshen English Church, we decided to take the opportunity of mild weather and our close proximity to the Bay to spend the afternoon biking along the shore. Our driver Mr. Lee took us straight to the coast rather than drop us off at our apartment. We saw the bikes and we were ready for a few hours of tandem bike riding along the paths.
Though conveniently dropped off at the coast, it appeared that we were not in the right spot. Our fearless leader Vicki and teachers Katherine and Kara had been on this particular adventure before and so we started off for the bike stand they had used last year.
The walk would be nice, we thought. We would find the right place and enjoy the soft breeze as we pedaled right out of the Sound of Music and onto the Shenzhen streets. However, the walk was taking longer than we thought. Each bend promised a bike stand, but each time we were disappointed by mere toilets and tourists. Bikers were passing us on all sides, looking so happy and seated. Some rode side saddle on the back of a bike as their companion pedaled angrily. I can’t say we weren’t tempted to trip a few, but the remnants of the sermon on generosity, kindness, and loyal love helped us refrain from more aggressive actions.
We would come up on a map and hope that maybe this one would have the little symbol of a bike. No such luck. For some reason, our limited Chinese didn’t seem to get us very far (Thank you, Hello, No) and we were left staring at poorly constructed signs and the end of the trail. Still no bikes. It was then that we decided we had taken the wrong turn when first exiting the van. One hour of walking. Zero minutes of biking thus far.
Soggy and sullen, we marched back to the bike stand a mile back, one we had looked over in search of the one we had in mind. We rented our bikes, Kara and Katherine on one, myself and Sarah on another, attempting to navigate through the crowds of people and the other inexperienced bikers. The little bells did not do much to lift people out of our way. There were some close calls and I am happy to report all limbs survived the trip.
However, we almost didn’t make it when the time for taxis arrived. Apparently, our part of town is not well known by the many taxi drivers who shook their heads angrily at us and drove away with the front door still open. When we finally found one that recognized the Chinese symbols we had tried to display on our phones, it seemed that we were on our way to air conditioning and apartment grilled cheese. Unfortunately, one driver had evidently feigned some confidence. The driver made a call to a friend trying to figure out where to go and a ride that was supposed to take 25 minutes and cost 50 yuan ended up depositing half of the crew at the apartment and hour and 125 yuan later.
Our navigation skills our improving in a trial by error method that has thus far brought us home each time. Our hope is that some of this knowledge sticks around for next time. We are hesitant to write too much down in fear of team two not getting to learn as we have. We really are just trying to teach in all we do here.