Hello from China!

Extra credit for some penjing photos (older style bonsai from China)!

 

Should have taken a photo when I was at my friend's business. I asked if a small tree he had was bonsai, and he just said no. Told me it was his late father's and that it was at least 75 years old... A Bing search confirmed that it was indeed penjing, much larger and bushier than bonsai as I know it.

Extra credit-Lanzhou finally has a McDonald's, for good or bad. I didn't eat here but the menu is interesting


I prefer my streetside bouza steamed with anthracite coal...

 

22 renminbi (roughly $3.30) isn't too shabby for the combo meal.

I am somewhat mystified by the sausage on the beef (assuming it's beef..)

 

Got the chicken, where's the waffles?
Deep-fried in peanut oil, delicious!


Banana or grenade?
Way better than the green nails they sell at Costco.



Stack of rideshare bikes. Mine's the blue one on the bottom... FML
These bikes are everywhere and people are using them too. These probably have some mechanical problem and are awaiting pick up for repair or disposal.
I have not seen any rideshare scooters, I think the roads and sidewalks are too uneven.

 

As my trip winds down, I am back in Shenzhen. This city near Hong Kong was just a fishing village in the mid-eighties and is now home to nearly 20 million people. In fact, I am in the Shenzhen-Guangzhou megalopolis the has more people than California in the same area as the LA basin. That's a lot of people.
It's great that they have a fantastic subway system and bullet trains to ease travel, though they can get crowded.
Didn't get to ride due to the rain, but we got a lot done, family-wise, and business stuff too.
Can't wait to get back to the US!
Should be riding my beloved San Gabes by Friday morning...
Get some!

@Faust29, think I saw a Speciarised on a subway ad. New disc brake drive...?
Next up was shopping at world-famous Huashuangbei, where you can buy anything electronic you can imagine. People come here to build their own phones and computers since Shenzhen is the hardware capital of the world. They got it all here, fake, real, and in-between.
From capacitors to Karaoke machines...


City hall and beyond, that's the PingAn tower touching the clouds

Was gonna put this in the E-bike lovers thread...

 

OMG too late, but if you could grab that t-shirt for me in an XL - it would be worth a case of beer to you!

 

Mid-drive with a continuously variable transmission (no gears).

Crazy back armor. Is he planning on wrestling dinosaurs or going for a ride?

 

It is actually on a pillowcase! Prime example of Chinglish...

 

Why not both!

 

Hey @Luis! Tomorrow my flight leaves at 11pm May 16th and arrives at LAX at 9pm May 16th...I think Stephen Hawking is the pilot!
Oooh, my brain...

 

Einstein said time travel was impossible. What does he know, anyway?

 

Hawking invited time-travelers to a party he already had and no one showed up!

 

He gave them the wrong time and date.

 

I hope we do not start putting the rotor on the wrong side. They are so universal right now.
It would make the all custom. and that would be sad
Happy air contrails