China Radio International (CRI) is doing more and more news on video. They had come to do a feature about Natooke shop and me doing tricks on bicycles. Here is the feature on their site.
But I cannot see the video on their site. The video is also uploaded here.
I went to Nanjing in January for the JiangsuTV station. Today the show was broadcasted. Here is the link to the video of the TV show. I appear starting at 16 min being interviewed by the two TV show hosts Li Ai and Peng Yu.
Well yes, the interview is all in Chinese. But I do bicycle tricks starting at 29 min and that needs no knowledge of Chinese to understand it.
Just yesterday a reporter passed by our hutong and caught Fred and me when we were just about to leave for lunch. She writes for the travel section on the China Radio International website. And yesterday she was looking at the up and coming Wudaoying Hutong. Below are some extracts from that article. To read the full article and see all the pictures please go here: Original full version article on CRI website
Wudaoying: New Life in An Old Hutong
2011-02-09 16:26:32 CRIENGLISH.com Web Editor: Duan Xuelian By Angela Pruszenski
Wudaoying Hutong near Beijing’s Lama Temple has undergone a rapid transformation, establishing the alley as the city’s newest trendy hangout.
A part-time employee at Natooke fixed-gear bike shop, shows off his ride. [Photo:CRIENGLISH.com]
By Angela Pruszenski
Hutong shopping streets offer a unique getaway from Beijing’s plentiful, modern shopping malls. Until recently, Nanluoguxiang was the only legitimate location for shoppers seeking this unique atmosphere. Over the last year and a half, the Wudaoying Hutong near Beijing’s Lama Temple has undergone a rapid transformation, establishing the alley as the city’s newest trendy hangout.
Leading the way for the alleyway’s new life is the Vineyard Café, which opened 2006. For a long time, the café was the only reason for most people to visit the alleyway, and many of the café owner’s neighbors were skeptical of his vision. „They couldn’t understand how a western restaurant would possibly work in a hutong like this in Beijing. Obviously, we chose this spot because it’s a great hutong and because of its location, near the Confucius Temple, the Lama Temple and ease of access, compared to Houhai and Nanluoguxiang,“ Vineyard Cafe’s owner, Will Yorke, explained. „Other people have since realized the quality of the street and moved in as well.“
The charming, renewed hutong spans the distance between Andingmen subway station and Yonghegong subway station. While much of Nanluoguxiang has been taken over by souvenir-style trinket shops, Wudaoying has a refreshing variety of businesses, including a tanning studio, clothing shops, home décor shops, specialty stores, restaurants and bars. Shopkeepers are engaging but not pushy, and many of the business owners can be found tending to their shops.
Anchoring the unique atmosphere of Wudaoying is Natooke, a shop specializing in custom-fixed gear bikes and juggling equipment. When owner Ines Brunn, opened the shop in 2008, she sought a hutong location. After searching Beiluoguxiang and the Gulou area, she settled on Wudaoying. Natooke is the only fixed gear bike shop in Beijing, opened to serve the needs of the growing crowd of bicycle enthusiasts in the city. „We had the group, but no shop,“ she says of her decision to launch a fixed gear bike shop. „It’s really a niche market.“
Aside from Mandela and Natooke, other specialty stores include Save As, which stocks vintage keepsakes and vinyl records. Argo, a Greek restaurant, and Saffron, which serves Spanish-inspired cuisine, stand out among the street’s dessert cafes and Western eateries.
Shoppers can easily spend an afternoon exploring Wudaoying, and all that its unique, easy-going culture has to offer. Most of the shops are closed on Mondays, so visitors should plan trips accordingly.
A „hutong“ refers to an alleyway surrounded by traditional courtyard homes. Having once dominated Beijing, they are now facing the challenge of staying relevant in the modern era.
The Beijing municipal government has taken notice of the struggle, targeting the Wudaoying Hutong for special development and designating it as a pedestrian street. To help with redevelopment, the government offers subsidies for renovating traditional homes, and taken on the bill for renovating state-owned buildings on the street.
I also found this article on People’s Daily Online
The Global Times newspaper reporter Ming Yue had come to our Smarter than Car (STC) indoor roller racing event (JisuPK) on Jan 22nd at Decathlon store. Here is the link to the article. And here is a copy of the article and the pictures taken by our fixed gear and road cyclist friend Ricky Wong:
Race to the start. Photos: Ricky Wong
By Ming Yue
Bicycles used to be the most popular mode of transportation in Beijing, but in recent decades they’ve largely been replaced by the car, taxi, bus, subway and pedicab. But Smarter Than Car (STC), a Beijingbased bike culture advocacy group, is trying to make bicycles cool again with a series of indoor races on stationary bikes, and so far 61 people have risen to the challenge.
The race, called Jisu PK, is divided into 20-second rounds where three riders face off on special refitted bicycles. The front wheels are nonexistent, and the back wheels have been fixed to the spot and fitted with sensors that can track the rider’s speed. Participants race for 300 meters, and whoever is the fastest is the winner.
„Today we did the 300 meters for the first races, and for the fi nal races we do 500 meters,“ said Ines Brunn, one of the STC’s founders and also a bicycle lover.
The race on January 22 at Yizhuang was actually the second stop in STC’s Jisu PK series. The first stop was held January 15 at School Bar in Wudaoying Hutong.
„In China people think the bicycle is uncool and the car is cool. This event is to put bicycles on the stage and make riding bicycles cool and fun. We do this with a DJ and cool bicycles,“ Shannon Bufton, one of the founders in STC said of the idea of Jisu PK series.
In the January 15 race, most of the participants were expats, but the champion in the men’s division was Sun Zhe, a 22-year-old Chinese student. „I’ve been doing road races for fun in my spare time for three years. But last time was my first time to experience Jisu PK,“ he said at the Yizhuang race. For Sun, his championship was totally a surprise. „It is a really short race, and not quite tiring. I think it’s a test for the burst of strength.“ But, since the fi rst bite, Sun obviously fell into Jisu PK and registered for the second stop in Yizhuang.
According to Bufton’s introduction, about 99 percent of participants preregistered for the Jisu PK Yizhuang race were Chinese, which was opposite to the situation at School Bar. However, Brunn says they still have a lot more to do. „Each time we do it is getting better and more Chinese people hear about it and get interested,“ she said.
At January 22’s event, STC prepared 100 preregistration places, and people passing by in the market could also come in and have a try. „Hopefully members from the public will come in today and participate in the race. We have small bikes and big bikes. Even the kids can have rides,“ Bufton said. „Though the average age of participants was probably about 23 or 24, there are also quite a lot of people over 40 or some are over 50,“ he said.
The first name on the signing board was Shen Jingchao, a 54-year-old man living nearby. Having been a member of a bicycle club for three years, Shen has abundant experiences in biking. In summer, he rides his bike to his work place at Xiaoyun Lu from Yizhuang, a distance of about 28 kilometers. However, he said he came to this event just for fun. „If the races are based on di. erent age groups, I may have a chance to win,“ he said. „But I came just for fun.“
Wang Xiucun, a 56-year-old woman, was quite easy to find among the group in front of the stage because of her bright red bicycle gear. She has been racing bicycles outdoors for 10 years as a hobby, but after trying out the stationary bike, she said it was totally different from riding outdoors, and she hadn’t yet grasped the best technique to achieve speed on it. In addition to Shen and Wang, there were quite a few participants over 40 in attendance. The final winners on January 22 were two young participants, but that was not the most important thing on that day.
The third Jisu PK race will be held on February 26, and the schedule is available on STC’s webstite, www. stcbj.com. In addition to the Jisu PK series, there are also some regular riding events, such as Friday Light Rides held by STC and the cooperation riding project, Bike for A Better Beijing, between STC and Low-Carbon Transportation Project of Friends of Nature.
For more information see: www.stcbj.com or http://greentransport. blog.sohu.com/
There is a short documentary about China and its people and guess who is inside? Our cyclist friend Lao Zhou that also rides unicycle, is a crazy juggler and performs with us. For our 2010 Sunday entertainment program for the Sanlitun Village Mall he dressed up as a clown and juggled. He looks like this (Lao Zhou is on the left side, Lao Sun (72 years old) is on the right side, I am the tall girl in the center):
I found some information of how important this documentary is on the following website: http://advertising.chinasmack.com. It says:
Last week we saw New York’s Time Square taken over with that 60 second pro-China advertisement courtesy of the Chinese Government. Even now it is still playing at various times every hour on the big screens in the heart of NYC.
A week later, the next stage of the Chinese Government’s campaign to revamp the image of China in the West has rolled out with a 15 minute (well technically 18min) documentary promoting the wonders of China and its people from various “perspectives”. The documentary will be sent out to embassies and consulates around the world. It will also be played at various events promoting Chinese tourism. The documentary is titled “角度篇” (Jiǎodù piān) or in English “Perspectives” and you can watch it on youku.com.
Watch out for the guy in the yellow clown costume juggling at about 9:40. That is our good friend Lao Zhou! Great to have him in such an important movie, even though it is only 2 sec long. 老周在各个视频里：九分钟四十秒钟！
On December 10th 2010 we decorated the LiNing and YOHO fixed gear event called „Bike Boy“ with our Natooke parts.
Here is a video of the fixed gear event Bike Boy and Natooke that was on Chinese MTV. Only the first 2 min are really about the event where we provided all the bikes and fixie parts as decoration. Also you see me a few times doing some tricks outside on my fixed gear bike the day before the event as well at the event.
Here is another TV clip of the Fixed Gear event.
There is also a online newspaper article about the event with pictures of Natooe fixed gear bike parts and me doing bicycle tricks on my track bike:
体育用品网|http://www.3spo.com [2011-01-13]
国际知名运动品牌李宁与国内首席潮流媒体YOHO！潮流志共同联手，在北京竞园艺术中心为走在时尚尖端的潮人们带来了2010年度最刺激的Fixed Gear主题派对—LININGxYOHO! Bike Boy Game。
2010年12月10日晚，国际知名运动品牌李宁与国内首席潮流媒体YOHO！潮流志共同联手，在北京竞园艺术中心为走在时尚尖端的潮人们带来了2010年度最刺激的Fixed Gear主题派对—LININGxYOHO! Bike Boy Game。
而今作为国际运动品牌巨头的李宁，不仅一直专注于在专业运动产品的发展，近几年也快速发展潮流系列产品。当晚PARTY以解读Fixed Gear的文化作为活动主题，将全场氛围营造成了一个Fixed Gear的主题俱乐部，而派对中最大亮点莫过于国内运动品牌巨头李宁的全新Bike Boy产品系列——此产品系列2011年春正式投放市场，该系列产品以亮丽，时尚图案和色彩、舒适的运动面料为主要特点，被热爱潮人运动的年轻人所追捧并 为国内的自行车爱好者们提供炫酷产品。此外，PARTY现场更吸引了国内众多的知名Fixed Gear玩家的参与，其中更是包括北京NATOOKE团队，台湾Nabiis团队，香港HK FIxed团队，广州FAVOR团队，杭州WHM团队，，深圳B&J团队。而他们精湛帅酷的单车技巧动作，也成为了当晚活动的一大亮点，加之国际 一流搓盘高手DJ WORDY的现场音乐助兴，当红潮流艺人柯有伦的到场力挺，以及MC孔令奇和滑板黑社会创始人RAPH的现场RAP表演更是让当晚活动热到爆棚。
Fixed Gear Bike来自New York Old School单车文化，最初由Messenger快递工作者而发起的快速单车文化，在日本原宿流行后，就开始快速在全世界蔓延，成为街头文化的代 表，Fixed Gear Bike运动和Fixed Gear Bike造型开始大受欢迎。
国际知名运动品牌李宁与国内首席潮流媒体YOHO！潮流志共同联手，在北京竞园艺术中心为走在时尚尖端的潮人们带来了2010年度最刺激的Fixed Gear主题派对—LININGxYOHO! Bike Boy Game。
当晚的派对于晚上七点钟开始，一开场的街舞表演就给在场的观众一次视觉的和听觉冲击，节奏感强烈的伴奏音乐以及舞者力度俱佳的热辣表演立刻点燃了观众的热情。接下来的李宁品牌与 涂鸦艺术家们跨界合作Fixed Gear涂鸦自行车的展示环节中，每一件涂鸦艺术品的独特创意和完美的图案设计都让在场观众赞叹不已，在李宁Bike Boy系列产品的展示环节中，更是大胆的启用了由潮人们自编自导的一场特别fashion show，让人耳目一新的同时更加表现出了产品别样的酷帅风格。 各路Fixed Gear行侠高超的技艺表演， 加上DJ WOODY劲爆的音乐和主持人孔令奇、raph的即兴RAP解说，让现场气氛几近沸腾。而在随后的PARTY中，Fixed Gear玩家们更是尽兴的在场地中玩乐，让现场变成了一个Fixed Gear的天堂，伴随着动感的音乐，当晚的活动一直持续到深夜。
This is now how the bike looks after the seat post was adjusted for our customer and we installed the cool Oury grips that he chose. It is a nice commuter bike with the basket. But also it has really nice parts like the Miche cranks and the comfortable Italian Selle SMP saddle.
It is a very nice Flying Banana fixed gear bike.
He also took a picture with Dupree and me in front of our shop. I think this is the first picture of Dupree and me. I am really small 🙂
These bikes for our roller races are looking so nice. We decided to only have 3 of the 4 bikes, so the yellow one is currently not built up. We matched the rims and the frames, but we are waiting for the shipment of the green and yellow rims. I hope they come soon. But the blue and red bikes look so good.
And the Italian Modolo stem and Modolo drop handlebars with the nice curving match the beauty of the frames.
As our shop gets crowded on weekends Shannon suggested we bring the 3 JisuPK bikes to his place so he can fit them onto the rollers there. So Shannon, Dupree and me each carried a JisuPK bikes on our shoulders.
But of course we did not walk. Each of us rode our fixed gear bikes. Please notice the amazing blue sky on this picture. I would like to point out that we have been having blue sky and sunshine for quite a long time already – the perfect weather for cycling (if you wear gloves and ear muffs).
I tried to get a snap shot of all three of us on our bikes with the bikes but that was quite difficult with the traffic. So here just a picture of Dupree carrying the bike and the shadow of me on the left and also the shadow of Shannon on the right side of this picture.
This night I decided to cook. I bought some tomato sauce in a can and cut some of the ham. After already cooking the spaghetti I realized that I do not have a can opener in the kitchen. That gave me a short burst of sweet thinking I will have to eat dry spaghetti. But the good thing is that I love outdoor sports and in my outdoor gear boxes I of course found one of my swiss army knives with a can opener. Good that I have this survival equipment at home.
Today the Flying Banana bike frames for the Jisu PK races arrived. They look so beautiful. We ordered them in the Olympic colors (except black). We are going to build them up for the first race that will be held on Saturday Jan 15th organized by STC. Natooke is sponsoring the bikes 🙂
Shannon put together this cool JisuPK promo video from some of teh events where we set up this kind of race last year. But last year we used cheaper bikes. I am so looking forward to JisuPk with these new frames.
Also a few weeks back Beijing TV came to film about „Smarter than Car“. I was not there, but you can watch the STC BTV special footage here.
Today was also one of these typical days at Natooke. A lady walks in and says „I write for the magazine „Business Times“. Please do some tricks on your bike now“. It is nice to get this attention from the media, but I do have to smile when I get asked to do bicycle tricks like that. Of course I was wearing my high heel boots and not really the clothes for tricks. But it is enough to do stunts to impress the photograpgers and editors or cameramen. I never would have thought that my 21 years of practice would be so useful one day 🙂 If I would have said 5 years ago when I did one of my last bicycle competitions that „One day I will be doing bike tricks on the streets of Beijing for business magazines“ nobody would have believed me. Life is fun!
Each city in China has some streets which are classified as „te se jie“ (special street) for whatever reason. Well Wudaoying Hutong where our Natooke bike shop is located on is now classified as a special street. That means the government will put money to develop the street for touristic resons. There are more shops and cafes and Western restaurants opening every week. But they still cannot make the sewer be used properly by the residential neighbors. They are currently dumping their water from cleaning dishes not just in the sewer, no all over the street. But because it is cold in Beijing we are getting a bigger and bigger frozen puddle. It is becoming an ice skating area. I should bring my ice skates soon.
It is really messy with all the garbage that now is frozen there too. That is the best way to attract rats. I mean I do not care as we only have a shop there and do not live in Wudaoying Hutong.
Last year I tried to make the Chinese understand that it is dangerous for the peopel walking to have such a huge ice area. But this year I find it amusing. Also it is actually good for the fengshui of our shop. You need a mountain in the north (and there is a pile of dirt at the trunk of the huge tree at the north side of our shop) and water in the south – and that is exactly where this sewer puddle is. We have our own lake for the dragon that protects us.