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La Ban Yiang Ad Jian Ron and Ad Zhe Bike Shop Lunch
Located in the middle of Old Town on a narrow street lined with old white buildings with Portuguese architecture influence is The Bike Shop, the center of and catalyst for a budding cycling culture in Haikou.

The front room is filled with an assortment of mountain, road, street and fold-up bikes, most of which are Giant-made. Typical of Chinese commercial establishments, space is a premium and ingenious methods are used to cram in as much as possible.

Behind the front salesroom is a small room where mechanics work on bikes in a space that is not much larger than a walk-in closet. Little work space is not the only problem as the stairs leading to the upper floors and a hallway to the restroom are through this workroom. Add to this is the fact that customers do not leave their bikes there for the mechanics to work on. They stand next to their bike as it is being serviced, overhauled, or upgraded.

Behind the small work area is a larger room that holds a few more bikes and walls of bike parts and accessories. At the back of the room is a table and chairs for bicyclers, kibitzers, and hangers-on to chill, drool over new big items, and relive cycling stories. A pot of tea and dish of hard candy are talismans for the welcome atmosphere that pervades.

The upper floors, provide storage space for boxed bikes, an office, an apartment, and a kitchen, where La Ban Yiang, the genial owner, serves lunch to staff and guests. She and Ad Zhe, the store manager, have nurtured this enterprise for thirteen years. Now it is a flourishing enterprise and the hub for the local bike club that has a membership of 1000. La Ban Yiang and Ad Zhe are the principal organizers of the bike club’s annual Ride Around the Island.

Giant bikes and Shimano bike products are the main lines of the shop. A Shimano mechanic, Ad Jian, is assigned to the bike shop to oversee the installation and repair of that companies products.

This was the place to gear up for the Ride Around the Island. Items: Giant OC7 road bike with Shimano 105 drive train (a rental); Shimano Look-like road pedals; Shimano road shoes; Merida matching shorts and jersey; socks; sweat headband; and arm warmers (for sun blocking). Ready to go!

Next, the Ride Around the Island.

Posted by Ron Corio at 11:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Map
Off the southern coast of China, Hainan Island, in the South China Sea, is southwest of Hong Kong and Macau. Vietnam is to the west, the Philippines to the east, and Malaysia to the south.

China eventually asserted its claim to this real estate against those of Japan, Taiwan, and Vietnam. In earlier times this island was infamous as a place for political exiles. Today it is a tourist destinations for Asians and Russians, who come for its tropical climate and clean air. Sanya, at the southern tip of the island, is the most popular tourist destination with its white sand, blue sea beaches and resort hotels. (China Lonely Planet 2005)

At the northern end of the island lies Haikou City, the capital and economic and political center. The middle of the island, mountain highlands, is home for Li and Miao (H’mong) groups that are two or the many minority groups on Hainan Island.

On February 18, Chinese New Year Day in 2007, it was off to the airport and a two and one-half hour flight to Haikou and the start of a ten-day travel adventure.

Next, "The Bike Shop."

Posted by Ron Corio at 11:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

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After college graduation, Marian Rosenberg was not ready to enter the U.S. job market, so she went off to China to teach English and learn Chinese. Now, four and one-half years she is fluent in Mandarin. After living for a while on the mainland, she went to Hainan Island and put her stake in Haikou City, the capital of this southernmost and smallest of China’s provinces. Her Chinese language and computer skills landed her a job as a translator for a local travel agency. Using the first part of her surname, Chinese friends dubbed her Meigui, Chinese for 'rose,' the flower.

It was in China that she really got the two-wheel bug. Being fluent in English and Chinese landed her a translator’s job on the 2006 Tour of Hainan, an International Cycling Union-sanctioned professional race. This experience stimulated her already growing interest in cycling. After a series of bike upgrades she is aiming for her dream race bike, which she will get in the not too distant future.

Marian responded, when an ex-pat posted a message on an email list for teachers of English in China asking for suggested places for a bicycle tour during the Winter Break, and suggested Hainan Island. This posting led your correspondent to Meigui and a China bicycling and cultural adventure.

More to follow.

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1. Mizhi Kaofu (bran dough cooked with sweet sauce). Kaofu, also known as four happiness bran dough, is a sponge-like doughy soy product that comes in loaf form. A one-inch slice of kaofu is cut into one-inch cubes. Black wood ear mushrooms are cut into two pieces, and dried lily flower are cut into juliennes and hydrated. The kaofu is deep-fried until crisp, then drained and set aside. A small amount of oil is poured into the wok and two-inch cut scallions and slices of ginger added and sautéed. Add kaofu, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, water, sugar, and salt. Increase the flame, add the wood ear mushrooms and lily flowers. Cook until sauce thickens. Sprinkle some sesame oil and stir.
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2. Small Dumplings with Sweet Wine Soup. This thick, sweet dumpling soup is a traditional dish served at Chinese New Year. It is eaten at the end of the meal. Small dumplings (pearl size) can be made with flour and water or purchased. A sweet wine rice mixture also can be purchased. Bring water to boil in the wok; add the dumplings and the sweet wine rice and cook until the dumplings enlarge and begin to float. Add sugar and some dissolved starch to thicken. Garnish with ground sweet osmanthus petals.
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3. Mandarin Fish Cooked with Pine Nuts. The skill in making this dish is filleting the fish. Chef Wong demonstrated. He first removed the fish head just behind the gills. Then he split the head horizontally from the neck to toward the mouth. The purpose of this appeared to open the maw of the fish to be placed on the serving plate with the cooked fillets. With deft strokes using a cleaver knife he sliced fillets along each side of the spine, but stopped when reaching the tail. The spine was cut and removed then the fillets turned inside out while still on the tail. He then scored the fillets longitudinally with three cuts. Next he cut laterally and on a bias so that cubes of the fish could then be pulled up. This step will definitely require practice. The fillets were then rubbed with the yolk of an egg. The fish head and the fillets were then dredged with potato starch and deep fried.

The cooked fish was set aside and a sauce was made with tomato sauce, ketchup, salt and sugar. It was thickened with a starch and water mixture. Cubed carrots, bamboo shoots and green peas were added to the sauce. The sauce was then poured over the fish and pine nuts added.
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Yu Yuan Garden is a classic Chinese Garden in the center of Shanghai is nested in the Yu Yuan Bazaar, a collection of shops, boutiques, and restaurants that surround the garden. It is a real tourist magnet with all the accompanying trappings. It is located in the heart of the old city and with its traditional Chinese architecture juxtaposed with the gleaming modern skyscrapers is a representation of old and new China. Lonely Planet, in is Shanghai City Guide says that “while arguably tacky, one of Shanghai’s premier sights and worth a visit.�

Two bus rides from Fudan lead to People’s Square and a meeting with students Anna, Sophie, and Robert. A short cab ride later took us to our destination. Going on a weekday is recommended to avoid the large crowds. There were still plenty of tourists, mostly Asian with a sprinkling of westerners.
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Bohdi Bikes, a Shanghai firm owned and operated by a Wisconsin man, makes their own brand of mountain bikes. All but one of their frames are aluminum. The exception is titanium model. In addition to bikes sales, the firm organizes one and two-day weekend mountain bike rides. Their ride for today was at Dianshan Lake, about an hour’s drive north of Shanghai.

We met at their office—yes, a bike shop located on the second floor of an office building—for a 10:00 A.M. departure. Nick, the group leader, who is from Frederick, Maryland, USA, came to China to teach English and now works as a consultant for U.S. manufacturing firms who want to do business in China, is fluent in Chinese. Today’s riders were Elvis, a Chinese who teaches English, Allen, a Chinese who works for Bell, the helmet and bike accessories manufacturer, Nina, a Chinese, Michelle, a Panamanian who teaches mathematics at a Shanghai
international high school, and your correspondent. The driver loaded the bikes and he and the six riders climbed into the van for the trip north.
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After the short trip we were soon biking around the lake, beside canals, through a garden park, through fields and dried marshes, through vegetable and fish farming villages, and along narrow pathways between vegetable quadrants that are ditched for irrigation. In terms of weather, the day was a winter respite—partly cloudy with temperatures in the high fifties.
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After an hour or so of riding we lunched on deli sandwiches from Shanghai's New York Deli, while seated on a lakeside retaining wall. We watched a woman farmer load her boat with dried bushes then paddle the journey home. She used a rear oar, moving it from side to side and rolling it to adroitly trace a straight line across the lake. In addition to cutting, bunching, and carrying the bushes to the boat, then loading them, she paddled her way home, getting her exercise in her work.
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We rode for three hours, covered 30 kilometers (about 18 miles), which does not seem like much. Pedaling and walking along a lot of narrow tracks and carrying the bike up and down stepped bridges made the workout feel like a 40 mile road bike ride on a windy day.
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Today was the first of four classes at the Chinese Cooking Workshop. The classes meet once a week for two-hours. The teacher for this series is Chef Wong, a professionally-trained chef who works for Shanghai Fish Port, a local restaurant.
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The classroom is located on the first floor of a two-story brick row house at a cul-de-sac of a lane off of Yuyuan Road in the Puxi District. The compact space includes a rectangular room with a work table, and an adjoining step-up area that houses the gas cooking pots and a sink. Chef Wong teaches from the center of one side of the work table with students seated around. A prep cook assists him.
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Three others attended today’s class, Milena from Brazil, Joanna, a Salvadoran who now lives in Italy, and Klaus from Germany.
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The course description follows:

FEB 1st LESSON01
Cold dish: mouth watery chicken View image
Vegetable: water spinach cooked with preserved bean curd sauce View image
★Shrimp: shanghai style shrimp
FEB 8th LESSON02
Cold dish: bran dough cooked with sweet sauce
Sweet dim sum: small dumpling with sweet wine soup
★Fish: mandarin fish cooked with pine nuts
FEB 15th LESSON03
Seafood: jelly fish served with sesame oil
Vegetable: bamboo shoots cooked with soy sauce
★Crab: crab cooked salted egg
FEB 22nd LESSON04
Chicken: young soy bean cooked with chicken
Seafood: mixed seafood cooked with sweet and spice sauce
★Cold dish: beef cooked with preserved orange peel

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