Where have all the scooters gone?

Back in China, we are winding down our holiday quietly. With Xi'an and Seoul, we had a full vacation schedule. So we spent a few relaxing days in our apartment in Cangzhou and went to the countryside one more time to have the traditional farewell dinner with all my wife's sisters at my in-laws' house before our departure to Germany. On the day of our departure, all the furniture will be covered with blankets and plastic wrap, thereby preparing the apartment for hibernation. Then we take the train to Beijing and from there to the airport. The holiday is, to my great regret, already over again. Like every year, I conclude my vacation blog with a comment about my very special friends in Cangzhou: the electric scooters. This year, during the warm season, we made extensive use of the little speedsters and even tried the yellow variety from another provider. That was not entirely voluntary, as the availability of scooters was noticeably reduced. We often couldn’t get a scooter at all and had to walk to the next intersection or even take the bus or a taxi. Sometimes there was only a single scooter available, which meant we had to ride two on one scooter to the next free one. Finding a scooter was therefore sometimes a bit tedious. The rental company either has fewer scooters in operation or the distribution does not work as well at our suburban location anymore. Of course, the use of rental scooters is not in such high demand among locals, as almost every resident owns their own scooter. Otherwise, I felt very comfortable in China again. With food, I am still searching for alternatives. Especially at breakfast, I cannot get used to warm food. But I discovered a great variety of tofu (see photo) in the supermarket. Speaking of supermarkets: I have never(!) experienced having to wait in line at a supermarket checkout in China. There are always so many checkouts open that there’s always one free. In Germany, one can only dream of such conveniences. In the hot temperatures (up to 40 degrees Celsius), I was particularly thrilled by the little stores Mixue Bingcheng (蜜雪冰城), as they always had cold refreshments. Whenever a big snowman waved somewhere, the refreshment was not far off. For this eye-catching guy is the mascot of the store chain. There, I was also able to pay contactlessly with Alipay for the first time. I reported on these NFC devices some time ago in my LöwenPost: Tap! from Alipay. The package pickup in our residential complex in Cangzhou has also been technically modernized, with an automatic QR code scanner now speeding up the package checkouts. During an evening walk, we discovered a lively scene in Xingye Park right across from our residential complex, where people gather to dance, play, exercise, and talk: a colorful community life. There was also a lively scene while we took a walk along the Grand Canal. It is a large park that runs through the city, featuring the rebuilt ancient salt tower (see also my blog post from last year: Nanchuan Old Street in Cangzhou), which was even open on the day of our visit. Curious, probably because of a trend, were the microphones set up here, where one can determine the height of the water fountain by loudly shouting. Similar to the shout fountains in Xi'an (see my blog entry: Tang Meile). A fun sight and sound for all children: Shout Fountain in Cangzhou. Even more photos from this long walk and from the other places visited in China and Korea (as shown here in the blog) I will later compile into small photo videos and also upload to YouTube. The beginning has already been made by the city wall in Xi'an: Xi'an City Wall. One final remark about my photos: This year, I exclusively used my smartphone camera. It is the world's first camera in a smartphone that authentically simulates the full range of true-to-life Pantone colors and thus fulfills the evaluation and classification criteria of Pantone. The photos from my Motorola X 50 Ultra smartphone (sold in Germany as Motorola Edge 50 Ultra) may not seem so vibrant because of this, but they possess a high level of reality fidelity. A reality fidelity that I will continue to maintain in my descriptions in my travel blog. At this point, I will not be active again until next year, and until then, I will post in my Taibang blog and publish my LöwenPost. 明年见 - Mingnian jian – See you next year!