Oh The Places You'll Find (If You Take A Bike Ride)

"We ride to Rohan" was the text message I received from Erika yesterday that put a massive smile on my face. I had told her earlier that I would join her for a bike ride.

(side note: Can we make this number 17 on reasons you should date her? She uses Tolkien references in everyday life. What a catch!)

Back to the story. We got ready and rode our bikes out of the campus. Destination unknown.

We had blue skies for our ride

After riding for somewhere around 30 minutes, we found an amazing alleyway full of little shops and restaurants, men selling roasted pigs feet every few yards, and a bustling crowd.

 We walked our bikes through the maze and found a little restaurant to eat at. We ordered two of my favorite dishes 油麦菜 (rapeseed) and 地三鲜(three treasures). We tried to order 日本豆腐 (Japanese tofu), but they said 没有 (We don't have that today).

The dish on the left was unbelievably delicious!

They brought us some other tofu, which looked delicious, but tasted spoiled. We didn't want the restaurant to loose face by complaining or leaving the dish uneaten, so we took it to go and tossed it on the way home. That seemed to be the best option, anyway...

Delicious-looking tofu... looks can be deceiving

 While at the restaurant, three men came in to have their dinner. I am used to being stared at, but these guys took it a step further, came right up to our table, leaned on the extra chairs and then stared at us. A.W.K.W.A.R.D.

Then, one of the men said, "你们是哪国人?" (Which country are you from?)

I answered, "我们是河南人" (We are Henan people)

{people smiling and chuckling while the man stares, unsure of what to say. One man in the back says, "她说普通话!" (She's speaking Mandarin!) }

Then, the man says something like “你们很漂亮” (You girls are very beautiful)

In China, you should never say "Thank you" to a compliment, as it is considered proud. You must be modest. In standard Mandarin, the most common thing to say after a compliment is 那里哪里 (nali nali), which literally means "Where? Where?" In Henan, we have a local dialect, and people who speak the local dialect will say 不中不中 (bu zhong bu zhong), meaning "Not ok. Not ok."

I replied with 不中不中。 One of the men gave me a big thumbs up with a huge smile. They then proceeded to take out phones and ask for pictures. Erika and I obliged and then took one of them.

Our questioners

After our dinner, we took to the road again. I should ride my bike in new directions more often. There's no telling what I'll find and what adventures I'll have.