Running In Chaoyang Park and Taxi Fun

So I decided to run to Chaoyang Park today, as I've spent the last few days lazying around and not getting much exercise. Besides, it'll give me a good gauge for distances in Beijing, especially things like, "How far apart are the subway stations?" which is impossible to tell on most Chinese maps since they never put in a scale.

On the way there, I took a busy road full of cars, buses, etc, but ran amongst the bicycles in their bike lane. Surprisingly, I found myself to be just as swift (or swifter) than many of the other travelers. It's an odd feeling first of all to even "run" in the bike lane (I was the only one), and even odder to be running fast enough to pass other cyclists.

Unfortunately, the air quality was not great in the bike lane. Beijing's air pollution, while noticeably better than in the past, is still not well suited for this kind of long distancce, self-propelled mechanism. My throat was feeling rather funny by the time I finally got to Chaoyang Park, about 3 km away.

Once there, I ran around the park, but to my disappointment, many parts of it were closed due to the Olympics still. I was hoping they'd open things up between the Olympics and the Paralympics, but such was not the case.

On the way back, I did not feel like running through the smog anymore. I could take a bus, but I'd have to figure out where the bus stop was and what lines to take and so on. I decided instead to take a taxi, but I only brought 10 RMB with me, which was just enough to cover the starting fare. Regardless, I got in cab, and asked him to drive me home.

My driver was a man in his 30's; he looked like a nice guy, but maybe not nice enough. I told him that I only had 10 RMB (and paid him upfront), and requested that he drive me as far as he possibly could, given my situation. He can then drop me off and I can run the rest of the way. Hoping for some sympathy, I secretly wished he would take pity on me and take me all the way, which would have only cost him (opportunity-wise) an additional 8 RMB. The driver understood, but made no hint of what he planned...

And thus, after a couple kilometers, he dumped me on the side of the road after the interchange, pointing in the general direction I should run in, and leaving me to cover the remaining kilometer by myself. Oh well. Like I said, he seemed nice, but just not nice enough. At least he had the heart to pass through the interchange first, so I didn't have to deal with trying to pass through that concrete mess on foot.

Maybe it was that guy in particular, maybe it's how Beijingers are. I think the only thing to conclude for now is that I ought to try this experiement a few more times, or in other cities and see how it turns out...