Good Morning, Beijing
14 September 2006
Last Updated on 14 September 2006
Written by MazAlien
hina’s capital is at its most magical early in the morning. Few cities have such a profound sense of history as Beijing. It whispers down the grand boulevards, cries out from its megaliths and monuments, echoes in its palatial courts. And despite the fact that Chairman Mao’s mausoleum now looks over the Colonel’s Kentucky Fried, nothing of the past. Unlike its more sassy sister cities of Shanghai and Hong Kong, where an energized nightlife rocks into the wee hours, Beijing seemingly slumbers after 10. But, like most Chinese communities, its parks and plazas spring alive to greet the rising sun with tai chi and other sports, some I could recognize, others I don’t. We visited Tiantan Park early in the morning to see thousands of Beijingers starting the day with tai chi. Tiantan Park, hugely popular among locals as a venue not only for tai chi, but also for myriad of activities from ballroom dancing to croquet to Chinese martial arts, and as we experienced, massive opera singing activities as can be seen on the video we made this summer. So Tiantan park is an ethereal place to visit,especially in the gentle morning light when old folks are practicing their tai chi and qigong, opera singing and sword dancing. A place where Beijing can catch its breath from the relentless and perplexing change of recent years.
For more videos of China and Tibet, head over to my special video page of Asia 
(Some pictures by courtesy of Sosa)
© Copyright Maza 2006
Comments
Hey Marcel, thanks for this post….!! :smile1_ee:
watching the video gave me back the ‘goose-flesh’-feeling I had when I stood there among all those nice people in the Tiantan park last summer… that sound, those voices …. so many people singing together, walking on and off after practising tai chi, dancing, playing games etc. …..
The park / the people radiated a feeling of peace, happiness, easy-living, relaxation, enjoying the gathering with others …..it was wonderful to be there … :wub_tb:
Tiantan park….. an oasis of peace and rest within the crowded and hectical city of Beijing… :smile2_ee:
nice to see some of the pictures back here on your weblog …..
there is this park in the city where some elderly asians practice this thing…very slowly moving arms and legs, almost looks like they are practicing martial arts movments but in r-e-a-l slow motion. don’t get me wrong please, i really like the health consciouness of these nice people even at this age …but everytime i see that i instantly feel like sitting on the nearest bench and yawn and get a little nap. i feel so relaxed! :sleep_tb:
thanks mr. sosa. those pics are nice.
get over it, gertie! you sound too dreamy. are you practcing tai chai at home? :lol_tb:
Gertie is even to lazy to go with the stairs at her apparment ; She always takes the elevator…. :thumbdown_tb:
Hey Parvez…. what makes uou think that it’s MR Sosa ???? :lol_ee:
I like feeling dreamy once in a while…. so why getting over it….
I guess you have the same kind of feelings, reading your own words in your previous comment ‘yawning, taking a nap, feeling relaxed’ :tongue_wink_ee:
And mr. Webmaster….. me lazy ????? … hahaha…. yeah, sometimes I take the elevator…. just to see if it still works…. :lol_ee: and only when you’re around, because I doubt if you manage to take the stairs to the second floor :tongue_wink_ee:
well, gertie dear…let me tell you the second reason first as to why it was MR. as i see a plus sign (+) between you and sosa and as yourself is a fine intelligent lady, can’t we safely assume that you two are a couple and that’s why sosa is most definitely a MR? urrrr….well, not ‘most definitely’ but more likely. :wink1_tb: :smile1_tb:
now the first reason. i thought sosa was a spanish name for males. i even saw one named ruben sosa. he was a male soccer player, probably from uruguay. :tongue1_tb:
[mr. marcel...please don't visit breda too often. gertie will make you lazy like herself by encouraging you to use elevator instead of the stairs] :laugh_tb:
Tai chi is one of those exercises that makes you feel so relaxed and good all around. It is both an exercise and a way of life.
Also enjoyed the video :smile_wp:
I practive both Tai-Chi and meditation on my spare time. It is really good for general health..-.