July 10th, 2008
Beijing: Public exercise spaces
By Cédric Sam // 1 Comment
Megan Hall, Spacing Toronto's correspondent in Beijing this summer, wrote a very interesting post on public exercise equipment in Beijing's parks and playgrounds. Back in April, I stayed in Beijing for two weeks, and also had the opportunity to discover how Beijingers invested the public spaces to keep in shape. Megan's post inspired me to do a quick search of my own through my photo collection.
For instance, one common activity (seen in the previous picture), often played just at a street corner or a public square with a large-enough flat surface, would be the kicking of shuttlecocks (just like how people play footbag here). It looked like the people that I encountered playing on most instances were office or shop workers taking a break.
Since ping-pong is such a popular sport in China, maybe it is not surprising to find tables to play the game outside, as seen on this picture, taken at a public square near a residential complex.
In this other park, just a few hundred meters from the main Olympic site, senior citizens were playing croquet amongst themselves. By the look of it, this playground may have been built or revamped recently.
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That is wonderful to have such spaces - often not very large ones - so people of all ages can keep fit in a huge, densely-populated city. I do hope the Olympics will be a spur to improving Beijing air quality!
Comment by Maria Gatti
July 10, 2008 | 6:47 am