Morning Tai Chi by kdoc13
Being an American with a large gut and a penhant for loving room service, I was quite surprised to see the amount of exercise that occured on a daily basis around Beijing. The photo I have posted here is of morning Tai Chi being done (by two groups) at an office next to the hotel I stayed at. But it wasn't just there. It was everywhere. I couldn't sleep well, so I would go to a nearby park at sunrise. There were large groups in the park as well. I am lazy, so I was very happy to watch them exercise each morning while I tried to figure out why bacon in Asia tasted different from the bacon at home.
Needless to say, in the morning, you can find people doing Tai Chi almost anywhere. Some of the hotels even have their employees do it. I was told by the people at the Gloria Plaza that they could find someone to assist me in learning it while I was there, but I declined (see the reasons listed above.) Still, it is low impact, but highly beneficial. If you plan on staying in Beijing for a long period of time (long enough to learn the moves) I would highly reccomend it as a good source of exercise. First, because in the morning the haze and the heat are less and it is just easier to breathe, and second because it seems like it would be a good way to meet the locals and learn about the culture.
