On this episode, we take you to the 10 miles of streets where countless thousands of Angelinos had the rare pleasure of walking, cycling, skating, and otherwise propelling themselves on human power, exclusively, for a day during this April’s Ciclavia event. We also spend time with three Chinese students at the University of Southern California in the wake of a tragic killing of two Chinese graduate students in front of their guest home in South Los Angeles. Sara also talks with Jacqueline Hamilton, the host mother of one the students, about the neighborhood where the shooting took place.
On Wednesday, April 11th, at 1am, Qu Ming and Wu Ying, two Chinese graduate students at the University of Southern California were shot by an unidentified assailant while they waited out the rain in a car in front of one of their residences after a late-night study session. Neither one of them survived.
“It could have been any of us” writes fellow student, Mingshi Di, in the Alhambra Source. We interview Mingshi on this week’s show. This photo is from her article. USC has the largest international student body in the United States, 2,500 of those students are from China. The University has offered a $125,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in the killings. A memorial service is held on April 18th at the Shrine Auditorium. You can connect with USC’s Chinese Students and Scholars Association here.
A ride through Ciclavia is full of unusual juxtapositions. At the piñata stretch of East Olympic Blvd., Sunday’s boast an amazing Mexican outdoor tianguis with huaraches, quesadillas, and pollos rostisados in abundance. But this Sunday, you see two-layer bike frames with girls in leopard pants, big buff shirtless men from West Hollywood with shiny strand cruisers, and fuzzy bunnies riding past the bodegas and oil-drums roasting chicken.
