Encounter on a Foot Scooter

I was in Subway Station with my scooter slaloming (zig zag riding among the crowd).Suddenly I was stopped by a Nice Gentleman.
He pull off his business Card andg ave me.I read it it is From Guangzhou Evening Newspaper and ask me politely if he can make some photos of me,
taking me around station asking me to zoom for photos.Later we took subway together and made some photos with passengers.
About a month later I received a phone call from Reporter she asked me for a meeting.
The subject was how a foreigner lives among Guangzhou citizens and I ow this article to my scooter.
My scooter is not only a way to move fast, keep feet.
It is an ice breaker.Chinese people are usually shy and reserved.
But when they see me with my scooter they laugh, tease me sometimes
My scooter made me a lot of friends which I would not have met them if I was not on my scooter.
It is true that Guangzhou have bike Lanes everywhere, and the best part of it
one can ride bike along the Pearl River and with time pollution level is going down as most of the public transport run on natural gas.In rain season I like to ride from Zhongshan University all the way to Shamian Island and the beauty of the city and its old charm is right there to see and enjoy.
Here is the Article:



Published on 17 05 2007 Yang Cheng Newspaper in Guangzhou http://www.ycwb.com/ycwb/2007-05/18/content_1483317.htm Old Little Scooter Boy -- Travel around Guangzhou A foreign old man. A cute scooter. What will happen between them? In Gong Yuan Qian subway, a foreigner in blue T-shirt with a cute yellow scooter appears in the crowd. This cute man travel across Guangzhou using his small scooter. Interesting. So we interviewed him. In Guangzhou, maybe you've seen fashionable young people playing with scooter board;or you've seen small kids riding the baby-size scooter. Anyway, I have never seen other people using the same scooter like me. With double stripe school bag, wearing grass cap, this Belgium man called Qiao Ou, passed through the city street quickly.... Joe is like an old little boy. He passed Ren Min Gong Yuan with his scooter. He can always attracts other people's attention with his yellow scooter. " Ni Hao!"Joe talked to a local Guangzhou man in his Cantonese. "Lai lai, chou Zhi Yan" Joe distributed cigeratte in Chinese manner. "Is your cap American Cowboy?" Local man asked him. " No,I bought it in Tibet" Due to my special scooter, everybody likes to talk to me, giving comments how this " Gui Lao" is so so lovely. Joe never minds this kinds of comment, he is proud of it "I like old people. Their expressions on their faces are nice."Joe said,"They have their own stories which are written on their faces". Anyway, the scooter shortens the distance between him and young people. When Joe passed several fashionable boys with "corn bombing hair", all the boys looked at the this old man surprisingly." How old do you think he is?"Reporter asked the boys. "40?50?" Boys tries to guess. They are cheated by Joe's energy. Actually, Joe is going to be 60. Many Guangzhou street still keeps the old bicycle lane. Even if the narrow Xiguan Street, his scooter can pass by easily. Scooter is faster than walking, but slower than driving." Joe likes to travel around the city and enjoy every single details in the big city. Only when you are passing by the small or big street everyday, you can feel the real side of the city and the local people life. "I take my scooter which is 5kg weight, except when it is raining. I can use it almost everywhere. I can bring it to taxi or subway." Joe likes his foldable scooter. With scooter, you will never worry about traffic, and you can do exerise as well. It is better to do sports 30 mins everyday than doing a 4 hour sports once every week. "I started to use scooter since 2003. I was learning Chinese in Yunnan University,an American friend sold his scooter to me. Cause he had to go to Iraq for the war. He sold me very expensive. Cause the scooter was made of high quality Aluminum. After that, scooter became part of my life. I became slimmer as well. Though I am still fat based in Chinese standard. Aboard, I am slim boy; But I am called "pang pang de qiao ou".Hehe.." I am Guangzhou Local "I show you the local restaurant 'shou si ji'". Joe brought us to a small street near Xi Hu Road, like a local Guangzhou people. He told the restaurant worker in Chinese:" You gave me too much chicken bone. You do not like me!" After interview, he took his scooter and disappeared in a small backstreet in Da Nan Lu.... Joe is from Belgium. He has been to 58 countries,and can speak over 10 kinds of languages. His Chinese level is pretty good:"I can recognize over 3000 Chinese characters.' "For learning a language, envoirment is something very important. Cultural translation is even more important. For example, when Chinese people tell "it is difficult ", they mean I will not do it. For foreigners, their understanding is that we should try to solve the problem together. " Joe said, " So my name is Joe, that is Qiao Ou. I wanna be cultural bridge. UNQUOTE (Let me explain to my non Chinese readers:Joe in Dictionary is Qiao (spelled like Italian Ciao) its written with similar ideogramme of Bridge in Chinese writing, Ou -is spelled like Oh in English) means Seagull, this bird is in Chinese mytholgy is beleived to be a brave bird facing the storms and winds to travel from one country to another . This name was given to me by my good friend for ever WU from Hangzhou University according to her this name represents what I am.I want to thank her for naming me with such a nice way.) QUOTE 30 years ago, Joe came to Guangzhou the first time. " I took the small Russian plane which can only sits 40 to 50 people." Guangzhou was not developed yet, anyway, he liked the working culture here. " Chinese people is very clever. I liked their art products . They are really nice." After that, even though Joe traveled around different countries due to his work, he decide to move to Guangzhou and settled down here. In order to know the local Guangzhou, Joe chose to live in the old city of Guangzhou. In a small street of Danan Road, Joe brings us to his old house. "That is a company house. All my neighbours are old people. It is really interesting." Recently, Joe moved to a place outside Guangzhou City, cause the old house could not be rented to him any more. He chose a place with mountains, rivers, which looks like France. Even though it is a little bit far from city center, Joe just brings his scooter and travel around Guangzhou city. " I do not like comfort. Comfortable life makes people lazy and fat." Joe laughed. Actually, he has another hobby, that is to sit in subway , closing his eyes, and enjoy listening to the city sound.
CHINESE VERSION (simplified)
“滑板车老顽童”
游历广州 文/记者 林清清 实习生 李若冰 图/记者 郑迅 实习生 尹洁 一个外国老头,一辆滑板车,与一座城市,会发生怎样的故事? 地铁公园前站,拥挤的人潮中,一个穿着蓝衬衫的外国老头,骑着黄色的滑板车,“撞”进摄影记者的镜头。这个可爱的老头用滑板车在广州的大街小巷行走 ?有意思。于是,便有了这个采访。 滑板车“老顽童” 在广州,也许你见过街头青年玩滑板,也见过更小的小孩子玩一种在滑板上加上方向杆的滑板车,“但那些是baby size,我从来都没有遇见过其他 人用和我一样的滑板车。”背着双肩背包,带顶草帽,这个中文名字叫做乔欧的比利时老头,踩在滑板车上,快速滑过城市的街道…… 乔像个顽童似的,在市政府门前的人民公园里快速滑行,他和他那辆黄色的滑板车,总是能引起人们的兴趣。“你好!”看到冲他微笑的阿伯,乔停下来用半 生不熟的粤语与他们搭讪。“来来,抽支烟。”乔很“中国”地让烟。“你帽子是美国牛仔的吧?”本地阿伯指着他的帽子问。“不,这是我在西藏买的。”“因为这 奇特的滑板车,他们会很有兴趣和我交谈,评论这个‘鬼佬’是多么可爱。”对于这个评价,乔一点也不介意,反而有点洋洋自得。 “我喜欢老年人,你看他们的表情,很美。”乔感叹道,“他们都有自己的故事,就写在他们脸上。”不过,滑板车无疑拉近了他与年轻人的距离。当乔呼啸 着经过几位顶着爆炸头的“街头潮男”,“潮男”们惊讶地望着这个看起来不年轻的老头。“你觉得他有多大?”记者问。“4、50岁?”“潮男”们试探地说。他 们被乔的活泼懵住了!乔欧其实已经快60岁了! “很多广州街道仍然保留着古老的自行车道,就算是在西关狭窄的小道上,滑板车也能轻巧地滑过。滑板车比步行快,但比开车慢。”乔喜欢这样子游历这个 城市的每一个细节。而每天在大街小巷里穿行,才能够看到这个城市里人们最真实的一面。 “除了天雨路滑,我每天都会带着这个只有5kg的滑板车。我几乎会在任何地方使用它。它可以跟着我进地铁和计程车。”乔喜欢自己轻巧的折叠式滑板车 ,滑板车不用担心堵车,又可以锻炼身体!每天花30分钟做运动,好过每个星期只做一次4小时的运动。 “2003年我才开始学玩滑板车。当时我在云南大学学习中文,一位美国朋友将他的滑板车卖给了我。因为他要按照政府规定去伊朗服兵役。他卖的价格很 高,因为滑板车是高质的铝及钢珠制成的。自此之后,滑板车就成为了我的生命中的一部分。我变得苗条了很多,尽管参照中国标准,我仍然很胖。在国外,我是苗条 的男生;但在这里,我被叫做‘胖胖的乔鸥’。呵呵!” 我是广州“地胆” “我带你去吃当地人的‘手撕鸡’!”乔神秘兮兮地拉着记者七拐八拐,转进西湖路边上的一条小巷子,俨然以“地胆”自居。他还调皮地用中文对店家说: “你给我太多鸡骨头了,你不喜欢我!” 采访结束,比利时老头一转身,潇洒地滑着滑板车,又迅速消失于大南路的一条巷子里…… 乔欧是比利时人,到过58个国家和地区,会说10多种语言。他的中文水平比记者想象中好很多:“我能认3000个汉字!” “学习语言,环境很重要。但我认为,文化的翻译更重要。比如,当中国人说‘这件事情很困难’的时候,他们的意思是,我将不会做这件事情。而外国人对 这句话的理解是:让我们一起来努力解决它。”乔欧说,“所以我的名字Joe,叫做乔欧。我要做文化翻译的桥。” 30年前,乔第一次来广州,“那时还是坐着4、50个人的俄罗斯小飞机来的。”那时的广州并不发达,可是乔很喜欢这里的工作文化,“中国人太聪明了 !那些手工艺品,又漂亮又便宜。”所以,尽管之后乔因为工作关系在不同的国家游历,2003年,他决定回到广州,住下来,在这个奇妙的城市。 为了了解最地道的广州,乔选择住在最有广州特色的老城区。在大南路的一条巷子里,乔骑着滑板车,熟练地带我们来到他的旧居,门口挂满了大大小小的木 制信箱。“那是一个单位的宿舍,邻居们都是老人家,很有意思。” 最近,乔搬到广州南郊的一个小区,因为那所老房子不能再租给他了。他选择了一个环境很像法国的地方,有山,有河,精致优雅。尽管离市区有点远,乔依 然每天都带着他的滑板车,坐地铁,在新老城区之间穿行。“我就是不喜欢方便,方便的生活令人懒惰,今天好,明天不好。”乔笑着说。其实他还有个有意思的小爱 好,他喜欢在地铁里,闭上眼睛,听周围的声音,“这样能听到这个城市真正的声音。”