Something that we can all learn from the Chinese is the habit of exercising every day. Even in San Francisco a lot of the people you see working out early in the morning are Chinese. Here in Shanghai they can be seen everywhere, particularly early in the morning (unlike me).
That said, some of the exercises themselves are a little unorthodox. Here are some I have seen recently:
- You often see people walking around backwards. Much to my surprise it turns out that they are not care in the community participants! Apparently the thinking is that it is like clocking a car to reduce the mileage on the odometer – if you walk backwards the same distance that you walk forward each day you will never age by a single day. OK..
- Tai chi. Lots of this going on everywhere either individually or in groups. It’s beautiful to watch – the other day I saw a few elderly ladies doing some form that included fans and swords. Just stunning.
- People walking around slapping themselves on the arms and/ or clapping.
- The other day I saw two old guys standing back to back doing hip circles. This went on for ages. I’m not sure what it was doing for them but they seemed to be enjoying it.
- Walking around doing knee raises. OK this one I get but it’s a bit strange on a crowded pavement.