OK Ladies Deploy Parasols

So it is hot in the northern plains. I am in Baoding, a tad to the south of Beijing. I have an extended visa in hand, albeit for a month. I still have to work out how to teach legally, although people keep on asking me to teach anyway. We are approaching the longest day (to-day, to-morrow?) and the daily thunderstorms are cropping up which makes me wonder about all that grain drying on roads and rooftops. The ladies love to keep their skin fair here so many go around with parasols deployed. Often the latter are attached by doohickies to their bikes. The Canary Clubs are out in full force as the caged-bird owners come to the park to let the birds commune (fortunately the owners don't sing too). Today I went to a rather obscure museum tucked away near my hotel. The theme? The Chinese youth who starting around 1911 when the last dynasty was overthrown, went to France to imbibe in communist thought. The values they learned went a long way to forming a base for the later Revolution. Apparently Chou En Lai and Deng Xiao Ping were among them. It was a long boat ride. Port Out Starboard Home (POSH for the uninitiated)? I doubt it since the trip straddled the Equator and would be exposed to the sun no matter. Most probably were in steerage and had no porthole anyway.