These cruisers have a story…a pretty dark history that, really, is barely history. The clunky bikes dont live up to their nickname.  They can be seen all over. Many seemingly abandoned and collecting dust in front of buildings. A throwback to the late 50s. They were given out to the people all over Beijing. Unfortunately you cant eat bikes. Gross miscalculations made for plenty of steel, but massive food shortages. It was the greatest famine in human history. Desperation ran so high you could actually buy human meat at the butcher…or so I read.  "The Great Leap Forward", implemented by Mao, was ambitious but disastrous. But at least you got a sweet bike…

…havnt been around in awhile. About 500 years actually. But you wouldnt know it at first glance. Thousands of people moving  busily along the ancient bands of bricks teases the imagination to trasform them into Ming Dynasty warriors, nervously waiting for the invasion they knew was coming. Over 1 million of them stood guard at one point, during the Wall’s peak. Alot of good it did. A gate guard, not a big fan of the current rulers, simply opened it up for them. 300 years of work out the window in an instant. “The best layed plans…”

  Everyone is constantly moving. It seems like daily life involves less and less wondering…not about anything in particular or of singular importance…just good ole’ wondering. But we began as pondering creatures. Before civilizations, buildings, schools, and insurance companies, we had time and lots of it. We evolved into what we consider our most “human” characteristics through millions of years of days not filled with places to be and work to be done with the thousands of unseen and relatively new stresses we’ve created. Life was not short and brutish. Magic, food, and time to wonder was all around.  So quickly our time was then gone. Whether we gave it away or it was taken will never be clear but we do know that what little we have left is precious and vital.

Just ignore the people passing by. Its just you and the sidewalk. You and the city. You and the world.