Saturday, December 02, 2006

Kowloon Park | An Urban Oasis

Located in the heart of Hong Kong is a park. A typical picture of a park would include children playing and their parents to the side watching. But it is different at this park. It is a daily ritual for many senior citizens to come down every morning to engage in their exercise of tai chi. Tai chi is a traditional Chinese exercise that consists of taking 108 slow and relaxing body movements to sooth one’s mind and body. Under the shining sun, one can typically see a plethora of people working out with their minds patient and flowing with the force. After about thirty minutes, one would see groups of people meandering away from the park and into the seats of a restaurant to enjoy their breakfast of dim-sum. Throughout the afternoon, one would see many elders sitting under the pagodas, playing games of Chinese Chess, tending to their birds and sipping hot tea. It is a pleasant sight in a hustling a bustling city like Hong Kong, a busy financial center as well as one of the most densely populated cities in the world.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

There is something so amazing about watching the art of tai chi. It is like watching this concert in physical magic...a group of people all in sync with each other's energy. I can only imagine how stunning this must have been to see!

Olly said...

I saw a piece about Kowloon Park on a TV program before and it was very interesting to watch and learn about. They showed a few clips of some people doing some tai chi and it seemed wonderful.

administrator said...

I like anything that shows a group as one. I takes amazing discipline I believe to do this. It's cool to watch and I usually watch to try to find someone out of sync! (it's true)

Cherry said...

Not only in HK but Chinese in mainland and in other parts of the world often exercise tai chi in group. I heard it's the secret of longevity, is it true or just a hype?

Lina Trivedi said...

And just today, in Madison, WI, they had a free Tai Chi class on the roof of Monona Terrace, one of the city's landmarks!

Unknown said...

I love Kowloon park. I always stay in that area when I am in Hong Kong and the park gives you a good break from the city.

The flamingos in pond and the exotic bird avairy are great.

I love seeing all the signs urging residents not to release turtles of fish into the ponds, but I think everyone ignores them as the ponds are full of turtles.

Anonymous said...

Good information about Hong Kong's great Kowloon Park.
I need more about Tai chi. Keep updating your Blog.

Add to Technorati Favorites