A day in the park

reading the newspaper in the park

card games: one group after another

the game of Mahjong

group singing and top class

To get to know the Chinese people, there is no better way than to take a walk in a public park on a sunny weekend. Parks are the place where the locals gather to relax and socialize and where you will see:

• Kites: a major hobby for all ages and made of beautiful designs such as dragons, lions, fishes, eagles, Buddha’s…
• Board games such as mahjong (like gin rummy) and card games
• Ballroom street dancing: somebody brings along a boom box and people start to dance the waltz, the foxtrot, the polka,…mostly older people are dancing but the group forms spontaneously and can be easily in the hundreds.
• Singing: again somebody start to play an instrument and signs and before you know hundreds are singing along and easily you can find a similar group a few hundred feet away doing the same.
• If you walk to the outskirts of the park, you will find smaller groups playing music or practicing martial arts or Tai chi.
• People are also bringing their caged songbirds to the park and hang them in the trees so the birds sing at the background while the owner has a casual conversation with his buddies.

Just the type of experience you might miss when you are a typical tourist on a whirlwind 2-day tour through the city but which are a such an intrinsic part of Chinese life and it is those memories that I will cherish forever.