Solana (aka Beijing’s Grove)
From the collage of postmodern architecture, all the dining and shopping one could want, a live performance stage, and a movie theater, this is the Grove. It even has a musical fountain! Except this is not the Grove, it’s the Grove China-sized: Solana!
I wound up here with a couple of friends checking out an expat services expo another friend had suggested. There was something like 100-200 booths for everything from toys, dental plans, exotic foods, strange trinkets, tourism, wine tasting (my favorite: lychee-flavored), etc.
The Thai Embassy organized a notably impressive showing, and I discovered my favorite Thai fruit, the rambutan/ngo. It tastes much better than it looks.
A fairly obnoxious magician.
And this store - it got the violinist in me all excited until I found out all it sold was clothes. False advertising:
The real treat though was the massive park we stumbled upon right next to Solana. I don’t remember the name, though I should because this place was beautiful and so large that if you wander far enough in, you lose almost all trace of Beijing.
Stu: “Where did you rent that bike from?”
Man: “Blah blah blah blah blah.”
Stu: “What did he say?”
And so began the long hunt for these multiperson non-tandem bikes.
We could find the Chinese Loch Ness Monster, but we couldn’t find where to get these bikes…
An apt representation of our frustration:
And aimlessness:
But alas we found them right before just about giving up!
(Me, Liwei, Stu, and a bottle of Lychee wine)
(This has more to do with Stradivarius than that stupid store.)
I think we wandered into a paintball field. Just glad there was no crossfire to be stuck in.
And then there was the scenery and sunsets:
Note: Hills and bridges are really hard to go up in bikes like these, but the coast down is well worth it.
Good day.
