Certain things happen here...

that would not happen in NYC. For example:

--Saturday night we got kicked off the subway. At 11:20pm! Because the subways no longer run after that time of night! Unfortunately, we were on the equivalent of the circle line, so the departure was completely random and we were no where near our destination. Being the helpful city that it is, we then had to venture out into the street and find a cab to go the rest of the way home, because buses don't run after that time either. Wth! What happens to people who need to get somewhere at night and don't have enough money for a cab?? Definitely one of the sucky things about Beijing is this oversight in transportation needs, compounded with the fact that Beijing is a HUGE SPRAWLING METROPOLIS.

--The cab Cheng and I ended up taking was actually a funny thing in itself. We finally managed to hail it and there was already a guy sitting in the front seat next to the driver. The driver then explained that the guy was his old friend, and if we didn't mind, he could give us a ride while he and his old friend continued talking. I was like, aw cuties, and then I thought: can you imagine a taxi driver in NYC pulling up and being like, I'll take you if it's all right that my friend is sitting up here and we're having a random conversation. Oh but then it was funny because the friend dude was apparently listening to Cheng and I talk in the back and he told Cheng he liked the sound of Cheng's voice. Not that Cheng spoke well or anything, just that his voice sounded good. Hilarious.

--The coat check at the dance club/bar was free! What?? Insanity.

--Also the best part was right next to the club (called Propaganda with a big pink star on the front, which is pretty great by itself) is a 7/11 and if you want, you can simply waltz into the 7/11, buy a beer, drink it on the curb, and then head back into the club for some more dancing. China is sweet like that.

--Speaking of waltzing, when we went to Houhai earlier that day there was a random waltz dancing street show going on. It looked like people had just set up a boombox with some waltz music and were having at it. Impromptu street waltzing in NYC? Not very likely... except maybe somewhere in Brooklyn.

So maybe I should back up an explain how Saturday went: rode bus to Qinghua, rode bike to Cheng's dorm, had lunch with Cheng's friend, took taxi to meet Cathy at Nanluoguxiang, went back to Cathy's hotel near Houhai, had dinner with a bunch of people at a restaurant overlooking the lake, took a cab to Silk Market, took subway to Wangfujin but the night market was already closed so we took the subway back to Wudaokou and met up with people at Propaganda.

Needless to say that was an exhausting day in which we managed to take all forms of transportation around the city except rickshaw or electric bike (the boats at Houhai don't count cuz you just row them in circles). Sunday was rainy so I practiced some Daoist wuwei philosophy (aka sat on my butt all day) and now it's back to the school grind. But: Shanghai this coming weekend!