Just one last visit to the park...

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, one of the most memorable and insightful experiences we had in China was at the various city parks that are such a flurry of activity. So, before leaving China, we paid one last visit to a park. Each visit we made to a park, we happened upon a new activity or exercise. And there is never a shortage of activites taking place, day or night. Any little strip of sidewalk will do for a game of badmiton or a group tai chi session. Kite flyers in one area, paddle boats out on the lake, dance routines in another area...people are always stooped over games of Chinese chess and mah jong, musicians come with their instruments to practice in a 'quiet' corner away from the ubiquitous groups with karaoke set up. We were quite taken by the value people placed on these open spaces and just all the use these parks see. We relished our early morning workouts amidst the crowds doing their daily exercises.