One morning in Xi'an, Janet and I decided to take a walk and find a park we'd passed the day before during a tour of the city. It was probably about 7:30 am and we found literally thousands of people exercising and walking around the park. We joined an exercise group of a bunch of women doing aerobics to the music of a large sound system set up on a crossroad path. From where I was standing in one group, I could literally see another 5 groups of women exercising-- all with their own sound system and their own rhythms. One group was mostly older women. Another, mostly younger women. A couple mixed ages. There were random men going tai chi on paths around us. Behind was a group of retired couples ball-room dancing on the pathway. All over we found people doing tai chi, playing lawn tennis on sidewalks, hitting tops with whips, painting, dancing, walking, talking, and all enjoying themselves. There was a huge field of tulilps that put the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point to utter and complete shame and a beautiful stone bridge.
It's sort of too bad that in the US we aren't as obsessed with general health and well-being.
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