How humid is it here? I couldn't sleep through the night, so took a run at 5:30am. 50 minutes later, this is what I looked like; I estimate I lost 6-8 pounds. The streets were already bustling at 5:30; a block or two from the hotel is a public outdoor gym, which has a full collection of a couple dozen exercise stations, including balance beams, situp stations, leg presses, situp machines, a treadmill, a stairmaster-type thing, rowing machines, and more. Folks of all ages were hitting the machines already, and a few meters away I found a couple dozen folks doing tai chi routines. No one was wasting time getting 08/08/08 started, whew.
I found a new park along the river, which had a sculpture garden, meandering trails, and more; folks were already fully engaged in their days here as well, including several folks doing chants and yells at the top of their lungs as they took their morning walks. As I emerged from the park, at 6:30 sharp I could hear the sound of ringing bells and announcements, which were unexpected but not strange; it wasn't until I got back on the streets that I realized that the bells and announcements were pouring forth from very powerful speakers mounted high on every street pole in the neighborhood. I have no idea what the one male and one females speakers were saying, but it was certainly an eerie way to start a morning I thought would find me running in the street alone. much too orwell-esque for a first morning in china.
08/08/08 is considered an extremely lucky and fortuitous date; Beijing will experience a record number of marriages today, so many that officials are concerned they will not be able to keep up, and may have to leave people at the altar come the end of the day.
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