This I know: 25 kilometers on my bicycle is enough to produce seriously sore legs and buttocks.
I first acquired this knowledge last month after riding said bicycle 25 kilometers from downtown Beijing to a botanical garden on the western edge of the city. (It didn’t really look that far on the map, but it ended up being 50km roundtrip.) Nearly the entire ride was into the wind, including the return leg. I swear the wind switched direction just as we were ready to depart. I really need a more comfortable bicycle seat.
I confirmed this knowledge yesterday after riding from downtown Beijing to the northeast edge of the city to Caochangdi, a village-turning-art district. This time we only rode 12km each way and while we didn’t have the wind to contend with the almost freezing temperatures didn’t help.
What possesses us to do such things? Blue sky days. They are so rare in Beijing that you’ve got to be out in them. You’ve got to take advantage of the light and the vitamin D. So we go for ridiculously long walks or bike aimlessly towards the outskirts of Beijing. One thing I am learning is that the outskirts of Beijing go on forever.
Someday soon we’ll go back to Caochangdi, maybe by bicycle depending on how cold it is. Caochangdi is actually just a village-suburb of Beijing. It is a cluster of little winding alleys with houses, noodle shops, little stores and public toilets. And somewhat incongruously, shiny new art galleries scattered around. In one of the alleys we passed a nice looking restaurant with ducks and other animal carcasses hanging out to dry on a clothesline out front. I say “animal carcasses” because I really don’t want to admit what kind of animal it was. On another alley we passed an old man breaking down wood pallets. He looked at us as though we were two Martians on bicycles.
The big art scene in Beijing used to be at 798, an old factory district not too far from Caochangdi. But rising rents, increased commercialization and a whole bunch of Chinese tour buses quickly drove many artists down the road. (There are still plenty of galleries, now accompanied by coffee shops, restaurants, gift shops, bookstores, etc.) The DH and I have visited 798 a couple of times. The last time was on China’s National Day, when we could barely even get our bicycles down the streets for all the cars and tourists milling about. Not fun. Caochangdi is pretty much the opposite. We wandered around and got completely lost. And somehow managed to miss nearly all the galleries. They’re really hidden! This is not 798. Some people say this is what 798 was ten years ago. We did manage to visit a handful of galleries and we even discovered a map of the area, so after some research we’ll be back.
Maybe by that time my lower body will have recovered. 
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