Brooks
Sunday morning in China…and wanting to squeeze
out every last moment to soak in the people, the culture, and the beauty
of Shanghai…
We had hurriedly passed through People’s Park a week ago and I just
had to go back. All throughout the park, we had seen men and women in
small groups, clustered together in designated (by the people
themselves) sections of the park. It was very obvious that those who
wanted to play mahjong gathered in one area; others wanting to play
cards in another; dancers in another; and then anywhere and everywhere
seemed just the right spot to practice qigong…movements or even
exercises that are done to aid in both their spiritual and physical
health.
People’s Park
This huge park is right in the center of downtown Shanghai. So much
beauty in the midst of the many skyscrapers in this vibrant, beautiful
city.
Although Saturdays and Sundays are reserved specifically for
matchmaking, public parks seem to be a place for either an escape or a
meeting place out of the many and massive apartment buildings throughout
the city. Early each morning you can find clusters of two’s and three’s
or even an entire class exercising together, practicing Tai Chi and
other types of martial arts, some even gracefully using swords as an
extension to their movements.
Huge, tall apartment buildings are found everywhere throughout the city, a sharp contrast with the old and the new.
We watched elderly folks practicing an interesting health discipline
of beating their bodies against trees. Interspersed throughout the
wooded pathways we would see men or women who were leaning and bouncing
their backs against a tree or sometimes even standing freely, swinging
their arms back and forth across their bodies. I’m told this is a great
stand-in for a massage and is great for relieving aches and pains.
However, there is a strong admonition to NOT hurt the trees. Seriously!
Some of the trees have literally been beaten to death, and China is very
intentional about beautifying and reducing pollution in their cities by
planting trees. Traveling even just a short way outside of Shanghai,
it’s easy to see massive tree farms to supply the city with its 100
trees to be planted each day policy. Definitely, going to a park in
China is not just a playground with a few swings. Instead, it’s
literally a forest within the city! Absolutely beautiful and peaceful
providing just the right place for whatever activity you’ve chosen.
And, of course, what would a park be without a children’s area? This
one even included an ingenuous giant sandbox where kids could master
large construction machinery…after a merry-go-round ride, of course!
Trees and trees everywhere and check out the top right directional sign. And, yes, we did go there!
Gardens and beauty are integral to life in China. To qualify as a garden
(or park), however, it must have three elements: water, architecture,
and rock.
Masses of people not only play mahjong, but also observe. It is so
quiet, no one speaks, on-lookers or players. It’s very solemn, serious
and lots of heavy duty smoking as players make their next moves.
This group is playing cards and even with observers, it is absolutely quiet as there are high stakes as part of their game.
This gentleman moved from the tree behind him where he had been slapping
the tree with his hands, then striking it with his whole body. Now he
is swinging his arms around his body, again slapping his body. He’s
smiling, so I think it must feel pretty good!
An elderly woman who was doing the same, leaning against a tree while bouncing her body against it.
This young man was amazing to watch. His skill was incredible, his
concentration and focus, his balance and control. His master was close
by every once in awhile coming close to stop him and give instruction on
a move just made and to begin again.
This was some kind of beautiful dancing. I’ve no idea what it is called,
but the lady on my right invited me to join in. The ladies in black are
the experienced ones while others were like me just trying to follow
the teacher. Both the dance and the music were beautiful, smooth,
restful, but very intentional.
But, the most interesting of all the happenings today: Matchmaker’s
Corner!!! This is the most serious business for parents and grandparents
looking for the perfect mate for their children. A carefully written
out description of their son or daughter including their height, weight,
age, education, salary and position of the eligible mate is carefully
placed on an umbrella. Interestingly rarely, if ever, are photos
included. Literally hundreds of parents come each weekend to post their
child’s stats while others peruse the prospects trying to find the exact
right match. With the one child policy this is even more important to
family and lineage. While eligible children may not approve of this
practice today, it doesn’t stop the fierce and hopeful pursuit of the
parents for the perfect mate for their child.
Roger quickly surmised that while matchmaking may be the required
activity of the day, many of the husbands left their stations to the
keen oversight of their wives in order to hang out with the guys to
discuss some of the other important topics of the day.
As you can see, China is pretty amazing and we are definitely on the
front end of the learning curve. Takeaways from our very short stint
there so far are:
- There are TONS of people in China! One/sixth of the world’s population!!! That’s a lot of people!
- Beauty is everywhere…in the architecture, the countryside, the gardens, the parks, and especially in the people.
- People are stressed and driven by a very perfectionistic society. The standard to “do well” is very high.
- Consuming things is important.
- Status is important.
- They search for and want peace from all of this pressure.
- Young people are open to the Gospel, looking for that peace.
- They have a LONG, LONG history!!!
- They keep secrets from each other and from the government.
- Eating healthy is part of their heritage.
- There’s nothing that is not edible.
- Anything and everything can be copied and done even better.
- I thought the U.S. was the center of the universe; turns out maybe it’s China.
- We all want more than we have…for ourselves and for our kids.
- Most importantly, people really are the same everywhere: we laugh,
we cry, we suffer; we all want to experience and know contentment and
peace and hope.
Thanks for joining us in this awesome place. Hopefully, we’ll get to see and learn more about China in the days ahead.
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