Interesting Social events on the streets and parks of China
Well, I have take quite a few random walks here in China and on occasion I find myself in a place or situation that is quite unlike anything I've seen before.
I was walking in Beijing after watching a traditional Chinese opera. It was a long walk back to my hostel, and I encountered many things; most memorable was the culturally rich Hutong area, but that's another story. As I walked on the streets at night, it was about 10pm, I heard music playing at a large area on a major street. As I approached closer, I could see people, couples, dancing on the streets to the tune of their boom box ... there were literally something like 40 couples dancing there ... it was amazing and not something you see everyday back home.
A few days ago, me and a couple of Brits were walking on another random walk by the Xian train station, we ended up venturing into a park. Soon after we noticed a bunch of people gathered around, watching what looked like a dance ... but was not particularly beautiful, but more humourous to us ... there was a guy dressed in tights, wearing a matador costume; he had the most priceless expression of his face and enjoyed himself very much dancing in front of the crowd. Many people gathered to watch him and did not leave ... I guess he was captivating for some ... to us this was quite an unusual spectacle.
We continued to wonder around the park ... and not far away from the matador, we bumped into a large social gathering. There were papers hanging on the trees everywhere, they were in Chinese, but I could still make out some numbers that seemed like height and weight to me. We then realized what this was ... it was a gathering of parents looking to share descriptions of their children in order to match make. It was quite interesting ... there were so many people there ... one could find a wife/husband based on a piece of paper if they so desired :)
We continued to walk through the park passed people playing on flute and Opera singers with a backup band ... it was all quite amusing. There were also many badminton nets around and people playing badminton in 7 C weather.
On one evening in Xian we were coming back from the biggest fountain show in Asia ... it was very nice. We got off the bus and walked towards our hostel. On the way we heard some drums playing and saw what looked like a mini rave from the distance. We approached closer ... there were hundreds of people dancing in a ritualistic march at a large square. It was cool ... there was a pattern to their movements and we watched to figure it out. At some point I decided to join in ... it was beautiful, people responded to the drum beats speed and the sound ... we moved about the square like a uniform unit, a snake of 100s of people, in patters. I really had a good time, as did several other foreigners that joined in.
I was walking in Beijing after watching a traditional Chinese opera. It was a long walk back to my hostel, and I encountered many things; most memorable was the culturally rich Hutong area, but that's another story. As I walked on the streets at night, it was about 10pm, I heard music playing at a large area on a major street. As I approached closer, I could see people, couples, dancing on the streets to the tune of their boom box ... there were literally something like 40 couples dancing there ... it was amazing and not something you see everyday back home. 
A few days ago, me and a couple of Brits were walking on another random walk by the Xian train station, we ended up venturing into a park. Soon after we noticed a bunch of people gathered around, watching what looked like a dance ... but was not particularly beautiful, but more humourous to us ... there was a guy dressed in tights, wearing a matador costume; he had the most priceless expression of his face and enjoyed himself very much dancing in front of the crowd. Many people gathered to watch him and did not leave ... I guess he was captivating for some ... to us this was quite an unusual spectacle. 
We continued to wonder around the park ... and not far away from the matador, we bumped into a large social gathering. There were papers hanging on the trees everywhere, they were in Chinese, but I could still make out some numbers that seemed like height and weight to me. We then realized what this was ... it was a gathering of parents looking to share descriptions of their children in order to match make. It was quite interesting ... there were so many people there ... one could find a wife/husband based on a piece of paper if they so desired :) 
We continued to walk through the park passed people playing on flute and Opera singers with a backup band ... it was all quite amusing. There were also many badminton nets around and people playing badminton in 7 C weather. 
On one evening in Xian we were coming back from the biggest fountain show in Asia ... it was very nice. We got off the bus and walked towards our hostel. On the way we heard some drums playing and saw what looked like a mini rave from the distance. We approached closer ... there were hundreds of people dancing in a ritualistic march at a large square. It was cool ... there was a pattern to their movements and we watched to figure it out. At some point I decided to join in ... it was beautiful, people responded to the drum beats speed and the sound ... we moved about the square like a uniform unit, a snake of 100s of people, in patters. I really had a good time, as did several other foreigners that joined in. I think these types of social gatherings are what's missing in the West, people here really enjoy being outside and spending the time together with others: most of whom they probably don't know ... it is also what makes the scene in some of these parks interesting. Although these things would seem quite weird to us, they are quite normal here ... as well they should be.
quite
posted by Alex Pilchin at 7:22 AM
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