fly me to the moon...

Liz Slome

Sketchbook ink work. :) 

How Fixed-Gear Bikes Made Cycling Cool in China

Dozens of upscale bars, restaurants and boutiques line Wudaoying Hutong in Beijing’s Dongcheng neighborhood. Sometimes billed as the capital’s Brooklyn, the narrow alleyway features a nightly mix of hip young locals and foreign expatriates. With its hot pink sign featuring a winged banana logo, Natooke matched the neighborhood’s colorful aesthetic. But its business revolves around a product that, as recently as a few years ago, would have been unthinkable in China: fixed-gear bicycles. 

A neatly organized, wood-floored space, Natooke’s walls are mounted with racks of bike parts—everything from frames and wheels to hubs and handlebar grips—in a range of bold colors. Buyers, guided by the expertise of Ines Brunn, the shop’s founder, and her staff of young hipsters, select each element to create a custom-built, fixed-gear bike.

Shops like these are common in the big cities of North America and Europe, but Natooke was the first such business to arrive in China. Today, it’s the epicenter of the youth bike scene in Beijing, and its impact has been felt across the country.

Cody Walzel

Tumblr

Zooming into the constellation Sagittarius.

Images: 1. A region of the Milky Way 2. A large portion of the sky very rich in nebulae and star clusters. For example the Lagoon, Trifid, Eagle and Omega nebulae are seen. 3. The field around the Lagoon and Trifid nebulae 4. The finest details of the Lagoon and Trifid nebulae. M8, an emission nebulae, lies at the left. 5. Close-up look of M20 where the three different types of nebula can be seen.

Manhattan.

Ink and watercolour on paper, 20x18inch, 2013.