Note: The Friday, July 4 Blueberry Nights entry refers to an event that happened the night of Wednesday, July 2... just in case that wasn't clear. That leaves the question, What did I do Friday?
Oh, you'll see... you'll see. Here's a quick preview: Photo credit: Me
Who is Boehner? This is Boehner (video from Shanghai):
Backdated entry, written -- as this week's backdated entries all are -- in the wee hours just past midnight on July 5, when America's in the middle of celebrating Independence Day and Beijing's getting pounded by rain.
Jeff, Misha, Candice, Jen (and Jen's friend, Morgan) -- eventually joined by Chris and Philip Boehner -- and I went to Chaoyang Park Wednesday and created, out of genius and ingenuity, an 18-hole course which I am proud to publicize, for the first time, on this blog.
Here it is:
Par 3: Opener. Aiming for trash can from top step
Par 3: Red sign. Red sign from trash can
Par 3: Column. Last pink column on the right side from behind the red sign
Par 4: Carnival. Under the park bench located in front of the dome structure from information kiosk located at the center of the carnival
Par 4: Dome. White side of sign just around the bend of the dome; every time the disc does not touch either the side of the dome or the final objective, +1 stroke
Par 5: Ladybug. Far ladybug (any part counts) from sidewalk
Par 3: Path. Trash can from sidewalk; disc must stay on the sidewalk at all times, otherwise +1 stroke
Par 3: Red sign, part 2. Red sign down the sidewalk from trash can
Par 4: Light post: Middle light post up the hill and back down from the bottom of the hill
Front nine: par 32
Walk right and past the carnival until you come to an opening. There should be a smooth road that stretches infinitely (seemingly) to both the left and right. Face left.
Par 4: Road. Light post at far, far end of the road from the sidewalk
Par 4: Sign. Sign at far end of tree-lined pathway from sidewalk (beware of the water harzard to the left)
Par 5: Bench. On top of the bench from the manhole lid (water hazard still in play)
Par 3: Column, part 2. Pink column on opposite side of reflection pond from around the pink column that was the conclusion of hole 3.
Par 3: Diamond. Green diamond-shaped bathroom sign from top of step
Par 3: Bridge. Anywhere on the bridge from the line where the sidewalk changes colors
Par 4: Axes. Through the inner red circle (the one with the axes crisscrossing it) from the bridge
Par 4: Mushroom. Seventh mushroom down the sidewalk from inside the circle of the previous hole
Par 4: Finale. Either the pink or orange face (must hit plastic) of the sign around the corner from the sidewalk (backtrack from the previous hole about 30 meters)
Back nine: par 34 Total: 66
Happy frolfing!
Misha's head peaking out of the rough on hole 12, when by the grace of God his disc stayed dry after a horrendous first shot.
POSTSCRIPT: But please, remember, this is a public park, and above all else the safety of the parkgoers needs to be respected, if for no other reason than because they could get us kicked out. Seriously. And Candice, if you almost hit an employee in the head one more time...
Backdated entry originally published 3:50 a.m. on July 5, 2008.
"Ditan" translates to "Temple of Earth," making Ditan Park one of the holiest places in China. That's why Cowboy Jeff (so named because he wears a black cowboy hat; alas, he's only visiting, and in fact the next night would be his final one in Beijing before moving on to Bangkok), Sandy and I decided it'd be a fine idea to tote some Frisbees and play Frisbee golf there before pickup at Deshengmen. (We had dinner at the fine looking place to the right, just across the street from Ditan.)
From the onset something felt awry. It was too peaceful, too secluded, too green. Too foggy. Too spacious, the roads shooting out into a misty vanishing point while the trees played the untroubled sentinel. Dare I say it? Too sacred.
And then there was this, an occult chanting that we could hear before we'd even found a suitable landmark to use as our first hole:
It grew louder and louder, though Sandy and Jeff seemed oblivious. It was... well, it compares to any of the chants from Yankee Stadium's left-field bleachers. In any case, you can watch the video for yourself.
On the second hole, where we had to hit a sign but stipulated that the disc must always scrape against a red wall, I threw my Frisbee over the wall and into the inner promenade (oops), which was closed to the public (double oops). For the next 20 to 30 minutes, Jeff, Sandy and I made forays around the wall to find a suitable point for me to climb over. But the problem, we decided, was getting back: the wall from the inside was too high.
Eventually Sandy asked one of the park's maintenance employees to let us in, and he did, and we retrieved the disc and exited to go to Deshengmen for Tuesday night pickup. And that was that.
POSTSCRIPT: Pickup, played in rain that night, was possibly the most fun any of us has had at Deshengmen all summer. More than 20 people showed up to play 5-on-5 make-it-take-it Ultimate, not counting the handful of spectators. The dinner afterwards was fun, too (pictures can be seen in Wednesday's (7/2) entries).
