Beijing Boyce

When I dropped into The Rickshaw last Friday morning to watch the Chicago Cubs – Arizona Diamondbacks game, I didn’t imagine that 24 hours later I would be blogging live about nearly 20 foreigner-driven three-wheeled “rickshaws” racing around the Houhai area on a pub crawl. (Then again, I didn’t imagine the Cubs would get swept and extend their failure to win the World Series to 99 years, but I digress.)

I blogged six times about the event on Saturday (see all of the posts here). Now that the event is a few days behind, my overwhelming memory is of the many locals, from bar owners and employees to bystanders, who seemed to have had nearly as much fun as the participants. From taking photos of and with the rickshaw racers, to watching a few of them go for a dip in Houhai, to sharing dance moves at the post-race bash, it was good times all-around.

In any case, I spent half of the day at Houhai Zoo and the other half touring the course with race marshal Alistair:

The racers took 90 minutes to three hours to finish, with only a few major incidents – one tipped over rickshaw at the beginning and three rickshaw-car scrapes (the owners of the autos were fully compensated).

Some of the more memorable moments:

- Befuddled racers trying to find The Reef or Drum & Bell or any other number of bars, but refusing – out of pride – to pay the one-drink penalty to the race marshal in exchange for directions.

- Racers busting moves on the deck of Houhai Zoo to the amusement of locals.

- What must have been a seventy-year-old man stopping his bike, parking it and showing some moves of his own.

- The further spread of pajama culture in Beijing.

- And couples taking wedding photos: what a contrast to see Chinese in Western wedding wear beside Westerners about to race Chinese rickshaws. Perhaps not globalization at its finest, but certainly in its explicitness.

As for the serious business, according to Mike Iannini for whom the race was his going away party, the winners seem to have been the team of Gary, Grace and Max, though  he adds that they may have played a trick or two on the other teams along the way.The following establishments participated and, noted the race marshal, did a superb job: No Name Bar, Hai Bar, Huxley’s (Shut Up Just Drink), Shui Gui Qi, Drum and Bell, Cafe Sambal, Ball House, Paper, Reef, Fish Nation, Pass By Bar, Houhai Zoo and, last but not least, the Xiao Mai Bu across from 20.

Props go to Mike Ianinni, Alistair, Chad Lager of The Rickshaw and Huxley of Houhai Zoo, where the race began and ended. Sadly, it coincided with the final weekend for the Zoo as Huxley will put more focus on the new Nanjie, which has done a rocking business since opening about a month ago. Good luck to Huxley and the Zoo staff, pictured here:

Hopefully, East meets West again…

… next year.

5:30 PM, Houhai Zoo

Just realized I saved instead of published The Rickshaw Rally V. So here’s V and VII, and then I’m off… I’ll have more on the event, including some minor details – such as who won – in the very near future.

V

It’s hard not to smoke at a place called Paper…

Race Marshall Al keeping up with the racers

VII

Chilling out after the race…

… and explaining that this is Olympic training.

Showing the laowai how to groove Houhai-style

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

DJ Martin cranks out some tunes…

… While Rickshaw Rallyists bust some moves…

… and draw a crowd.

It ends where all Houhai events should… in pristine waters.

4:25 PM, Houhai Zoo

Okay, now is zee time in zee zoo ven vee drink… prost! Throbbing tunes, tasty pizza and plenty of celebratory drinks as I post these photos…

A theme for this race?

Totally lost…

Totally lost, part II

Totally lost, part 3: but they finally found The Reef.

The end of a long race

Do you think Chad had a good time?

3:45 PM, Houhai Zoo, Houhai

Returned to Houhai Zoo after about 25 drop-ins up and down the route – and no, those did not involve alcohol consumption on the part of yours truly. Teams are pouring in – some exhausted, some exhilirated, and there are more than a few curious locals watching.

Ready for Bed (the bar)

Ready, start…

Splashing out for shooters at The Reef

Race Marshall Al with a participating establishment

2:40 PM, Drum and Bell

The teams raced – well, some kind of wobbled as they got their cycling legs – from Houhai Zoo on the course. Here are some photos based on the past hour of popping in and out of venues on the way.

Okay… I guess I’m not going to post… the photos won’t upload. A few observations then:

- To say most of the Chinese bar owners and staff are amused with this event would be an understatement. They have that “those crazy foreigners” grin>

- Numerous tourists are straining to take photos of the Rickshaw Ralliers and especially Race Marshall Al in his somewhat classic semi-military outfit.

Gotta run…

1:20 PM, Houhai Zoo, Houhai Well, the race apparently starts at 1:30 PM, so a few more pictures – and it’s been a long time since I’ve seen this many people in pajamas. I’ll be riding with Race Marshall Al and hopefully will find some wireless along the way.

Proud pajama’d Mikey with his sign

Pre-race training

The race inspires a marriage (nice socks!)

12:50 PM, Houhai Zoo, Houhai

Call it the Great Houhai Race, The Rickshaw Rally, or the Saturday Morning Antics of a Bunch of Beijing Denizens Having a Hoot – at 1 PM some 25 rickshaws will take off from Houhai Zoo in, well, Houhai and cycle through the streets to visit pubs, chug drinks and generally compete to complete the circuit. Each team must hit nine of 13 thirteen bars – a stop at a Xiaomaibu for a Yanjing beer is mandatory. The teams do not know the route. Once they finish a drink at a given bar – and everyone on the team must finish first – the manager will give them an envelope indicating the next location.

The race represents the going away party of Mike Ianinni, who will soon leave our fair city and relocate to Bangalore, India (hey, it’s only a plane ride away).

Could this be a new Olympic event?

Yet another blue sky day in Houhai

Rickshaw’s Chad, Mikey, Race Marshall Al, The Zoo’s Huxley


A swimming component for next year’s race?

Patrol boats would be available for safety.