Opera singing? Wow. That’s something I haven’t seen (nor heard). But I have seen people screaming at trees. I don’t know if it was some form of Qigong, but it was certainly interesting!

The afternoons and evenings usually had more people milling around. Some of my old co-workers practiced Taijiquan of some sort (I believe it was the Long Yang set), others would be practicing with the jian, and yet others would be building their strength by standing in a circle about fifty feet across and flinging a sand bag towards one another, the goal being to keep the bag moving in the air. There were always dozens of “jianzi” (shuttlecock kicking) games playing. One of the old folks was ridiculously agile and flexible; he could basically do what soccer players call a “scorpion kick,” kicking his foot backwards and being almost able to touch the back of his head! I never beat him in jianzi, hahaha.

Interestingly, during the later evenings, I noticed a small group of Baguazhang practitioners in a secluded corner of the park. They were really secretive, though, and the sifu there had the impression that he didn’t like people watching. It’s one of my regrets that I wasn’t able to get an introduction to those guys, they moved really well and were the only group that I noticed practicing zhan zhuang and combat applications.

Man, I miss the parks in China.