Today was an action packed day. In the morning we enjoyed practicing Qigong in Jing Shan (Scenic Mountain) the park north of the Forbidden City. The parks in China are well used. Due to the density of the population, there’s not much open space at home, so many Chinese will use the parks for exercise. Among retirees, it is a social occasion as well. In the parks you’ll find people singing, dancing, playing music, practicing Tai Chi and Qigong.
Our group found an unused corner and started our morning Qigong workout. The locals seemed to enjoy having a group of Americans doing Qigong in their midst. Several of them even joined us and followed along for the entire hour long class!
We saw an old man doing Turtle Walking Qigong. He was walking very slowly on his hands and feet. He walked all over the park, including up and down some very steep hills!
As we were leaving the park, we passed a group of musicians playing and dancing. They had an interesting array of instruments: harmonicas and accordions were mixed together with Chinese Erhu and Pipa. They stopped us and asked us to dance with them while they played a few songs. They started off playing an old, patriotic anti-American song from the Korean War. Then they changed to Jingle Bells! It was quite a sight a sight to the eyes and an experience for the ears to hear Jingle Bells performed Chinese style. The ladies in our group joined the dance and had a great time dancing with Chinese.
