North Face 10km run completed!

First time in a race for me this Saturday, ran the North Face 100 endurance challenge in Changping 昌平. The race was divided into 100km, 40km, 10km (obviously I did the 10km).

I completed the race in about 1 hour which was my rough goal. Here's the route map, the green route is the 10km race (I think this pic expands if you click on it).


For 50RMB I got:
- 2 TNF t-shirts
- 1 TNF cap
- 1 red bag
- 1 snickers bar
- 1 bottle of water during the race which I threw away after 2 gulps.
- beautiful scenery in Chang Ping
- hellish wind (one of the windiest days I've seen in BJ)
- knowledge that my left knee is not very strong
- satisfaction

I just found the 100km winner won in 6:52!!!??? How the hell do you run 100km in mountainous terrain in that time????

Mima, cafe no, bookstore yes

After reading this interesting piece, I went hunting for Mima Cafe by the east gate of the Old Summer Palace 圆明园东门. Unfortunately when I got there, the cafe gate was closed and hung with a sign "Renovation".

Fortunately, all was not lost, I found this peaceful bookshop the One Way Stree Library next door, opened by the same people.


Here's the entrance, I like the bamboo fences, very green / back-to-nature. This place is an oasis in the middle of the hustle & noise of Beijing. An out-of-the-way but great place to relax!


The bookstore is a long rectangular shape with shelves filled with books reaching the ceiling.


Inside, the books were mostly Chinese (of course) and with a design / academic focus. The customers were mostly students, sitting on the 5 couches studying. There were also guys sitting outside on these lawn chairs just chilling in the outside yard. Too bad this place doesn't serve coffee.


I asked the bookshop keeper if she knew when Cafe Mima would re-open, but she didn't know. Apparantly it's been under rennovation since the fall.

Painting with a camera

Here's my 1st attempt at a watercolor effect with a camera. These are actually blossoming trees in Yuanmingyuan 圆明园.

To make this effect I set the shutter speed at 1/5s and panned the camera vertically, trying not to make any horizontal movements. I wanted to keep the lines of the tree branches in tact.

Here's a pic of the actual trees.

War games, BJ style

This past weekend went to Majoy in Babaoshan (八宝山) to play war games Beijing style! This is sort of a bad pun, as Babaoshan is the city's most famous cemetery, when you say "I'm going to Babaoshan" 我要去八宝山 you're saying "I'm gonna die".

Anyway, war games here means laser tag. This is because paint balling is illegal within the city. But this is not your father's laser tag, it's super high tech digital laser tag! In addition to the sensor vest & helmet, everything is tracked by the central computer including number of bullets, hit stats, kill stats, health points, shield points, etc. Each player carries a PDA where they can check their hit points, ammo, shields and first aid kits. And get this, whenever you make a kill, the dead guy's ammo & first aid kits gets added to yours! It's like being in a live computer game!

We played some games inside the Majoy building (small) and also outside in the public park. I bet it was quite a site seeing uniformed & armed people running around like mad in the park alongside moms with baby strollers & grandpas taking their morning walk.

All in all was good fun but not as fun as paintball, the fear of pain makes a BIG difference.

Cost: 150 RMB for half a day

Spring blossoms

Blooming blossoms seen at Yuan Ming Yuan 圆明园

Slope Tunes

Totally off topic post, I'm doing this only so that I don't lose the link to Gizmodo's pumpin' snowboard soundtrack mix x 3. I'm always looking for new music to ride to so I'll definitely be checking out these tunes later.

Incidentally, here's my own mix, mainly rock & alternative, that I've been boppin' to on the slopes this season (yes, I bow to the Foo Fighers):

What's your favorite song to ride to?

Cycling Route 2 - Tsinghua -> Xiangshan

Chingming Monday was another beautiful day. Didn't want to stay indoors so took the old bike out for a peddle, this time Tsinghua -> Xiangshan or Fragrant Hills (清华－香山). The whole route is about 25km and flat. Btw, why is Tsinghua not spelled Qinghua?

Xiangshan is famous for its red leaves in the fall and blossoms in the spring. Didn't go inside this time, way too many people. Xiangshan is also next to the Botanical Garden that I have yet to goto. Will definately visit next time.

Everyone thinks Xiangshan is so far but actually it's very close to Summer Palace 颐和园. Start from Tsinghua west gate and keep going west, follow the road boardering the north of Summer Palace and then you will hit Xiangshan Road 香山路. Follow it all the way there, easy! You should be sharing the road with the public buses.


This time I was on my normal everyday bike so the going was slow. On the way there got lost so took about 90min to get there. The way back was much quicker, about 50min.

Cycling Route 1 - Cyclosports

Went for a bike ride with Cyclosports on sunday. Every weekend, these guys meet near the south gate of Chaoyang Park to go cycling. For 100 RMB you can rent a proper road bike (super light with many gears) and helmet. If you have your own bike, you can just join for free! Sunday is better for the beginners as the 60km route is flat and therefore easy.


Here's a map of the route we took. The first bit is on the street with many cars but after the first left turn you are into village / river scenery, very nice! I only got halfway before my front tire blew out, I think a pebble got stuck in the tube and caused it to pop. Anyway, was great fun, I felt like I was in a cycling race! Gonna try again, gotta finish this route!

What should I eat in Beijing?

Lately I've been reading food blogs and here are some of the better ones I have found to answer this most important question:

Appetite for China - Reviews of restaurants in China and recipes
Too much food in Beijing - One man's journal about eating in Beijing
Boom Beijing - Beijing restaurant reviews (bilingual)
Chowhound China - Public discussions about where to find the best food in China.

SiuYeh - HK food blogger, writes about travel too
ChaXiuBao - HK food blogger, witty commentary