Sep 10: Cultural Immersion #2 and #3

2) The next morning, we got up at 6:30 and walked to a nearby park where groups of --usually older--people practice tai chi, and other forms of exercise every morning. Dressed in yoga pants, we jumped in behind a group, and tried to follow along. This would have been far more mortifying had there not been a young Chinese woman who was doing the same thing, and was equally at sea. As it was, we did fairly well, no one paid too much attention to us, and my quads are still feeling the burn.

3) There was a major todo outside of our hotel when we came back from tai chi. Policemen and construction workers and yelling. The way a small strike might look. Mr. Lee was waiting for us in the lobby and he explained the government construction workers were there to remove a tree from the courtyard behind our hotel, but the people who lived in the apartment didn't want them to. An old woman had set up a cot, and was lying on it Arthur Dent-like to block the courtyard entrance. Soon, a TV crew arrived, and the main apartment spokesman began a speech. Mr. Lee translated: "We believe that the government is right and good, and that they won't take down this tree that we planted. If they do, however, we view it as an act of terrorism." Mr. Lee was inordinately pleased with the whole thing. "A Chinese uprising! This is democracy! It really scares the Communist party."