Put Put

Monday, May 5, 2008
Beijing

After parking myself on a nearby bench outside the Forbidden City to read my map and eat my ice cream, I decide transportation is going to be necessary to reach the next stop—having walked the length of the City, I now have a better handle on the scale of this place. Definitely a bigger area than I first thought.

For some reason, the one thing that seems to be absent from the boulevard that borders the north end of the complex (Xianmen Dajie -or- Wenjin Jie -or- Jing Shan Qian Jie -or- Wusi Dajie, depending on which map or twelve-foot stretch you happen to be standing on) is a taxi. But...there are a bunch of little “put puts,” or motorized tricycles around (think: a three-wheeled motorcycle with a boxed single seat on the back). Oh yeah. The motorcycle’s at least vintage 1940.

What the heck.

Jump in. Hang on. We’re off.