Dancing at Hebin Park in Guiyang

This afternoon at Hebin Park in Guiyang, Guizhou, I recorded a man expressively dancing to music. A small crowd had gathered and several others captured the performance as well. After the music ended, the man approached me and initiated a conversation in English. He told me he hoped I could share the video with my friends. He has traveled to Europe before but never the U.S. He was curious to know whether Americans would appreciate him dancing in a park there.

The video not only captured the dancing but some of the audience — including one small child who briefly tried dancing too — and passersby. As an added bonus, it concludes with a child eating an ice cream bar.

Xiangqi at the Lin Zexu Memorial Park in Guangzhou

A game of xiangqi almost over . . .

A new game of xiangqi just begun . . .

Not-So-Hidden Dragon

At Zhongshan Park in Shenyang, Liaoning Province

No Facekinis on a Cloudy Day at a Zhuhai Beach

Most of the time I see photos of China's beaches in the news, they either feature incredibly dense crowds or people wearing facekinis. So here are two photos from a small beach across the road from Haibin Park in Zhuhai which show an everyday side which may look a bit more familiar to people outside of China.

The beach's location makes it convenient for a quick stop between other popular activities. The beach affords views of Zhuhai's iconic Fisher Girl Statue (in the background of the first photo) and an urban area of the Xiangzhou district (in the background of the second photo). And Jingshan Park, previously featured here, is an easy walk away.

On this day some people likely welcomed the overcast sky since they would not need to worry about getting a tan. No facekinis, which raise more questions about burkini bans in France, were needed.

A Chinese Pavilion in Taiyuan

Another scene from Wenying Park in Taiyuan:

Although the pavilion was less secluded and didn't require as much of a climb, it reminded me of a xiangqi game under a pavilion in far-away Yangjiang.

Two Hearts on One Head

While most children in China don't have their hair shaved into a recognizable pattern, I have seen numerous examples of the practice. A recent one from Wenying Park in Taiyuan:

A Water Lily Pond With Water

A water lily pond at Wenying Park in Taiyuan when it wasn't drained:

Cleaning the Water Lily Pond

Drained pond at Wenying Park in Taiyuan

I saw the two men in the above photo working together to spray water underneath the large leaves of water lilies in the drained pond. The man with the hose also sprayed water at areas of the pond's bottom not covered by water lilies. I believe the genus of these large water lilies is Victoria but am not sure of the species. I can't find any information about caring for them that recommends draining a pond, expect for transplanting. The previous time I passed the pond, it was filled with water and contained similar, if not the same, floating water lilies. While it appears to be a cleaning of some sort, I am not sure what may have motivated it. I would welcome any insights from water lily or pond aficionados.

Most of today I was focused on non-lily matters. I welcomed the momentary diversion the water lilies provided both at the park and more recently while I learned a bit more about how to care for them.

Scenes from Kaihua Isle in Fuzhou's West Lake

Fuzhou's West Lake may not be as famous as Hangzhou's, but according to a sign at the 105-acre park first constructed in 282 AD:

It is ranked 6th among the 36 west lakes all over China and wins its fame for verdant hills, sparkling waters, shady trees, grotesque rockwork and wooden pavilions.

I have been to a number of those similarly named parks and wonder if I have been to the one ranked 36th. Whatever the case, I recently enjoyed a peaceful afternoon walking around the park in Fuzhou, and it wasn't hard to believe it deserved a top 10 ranking. This post includes some scenes from its Kaihua Isle, the location of Kaihua Temple. Tree penjing, sculptures of small monkeys, and a monk all make appearances.

Inflated and Deflated Hunan Style

At Donghu Park in Zhuzhou, Hunan, during the day children enjoy playing on an appropriately inflated slide.

At night children may reflect when they discover the slide has been deflated.

Some may even prefer it that way.