It is June 4 and security is tight at Tiananmen Square as it was the anniversary of the massacre. It was a good thing that we had walked the Square on the first day and visited the Forbidden Palace at the same time.
Before checking into the Hotel we were taken to a cultural street called the Liulichang area. Many shops selling Chinese seals carved on jade-like stones, writing inside a bottle, beautiful Chinese paintings and Chinese antique shops lined the streets. Here also for the first time, I had no choice but to use the public toilet that had no doors but were essentially cubicles. Anyway I was thankful that although it was a squatting toilet (most Chinese toilets are squatting toilets thus making it very hard on the knees) the cubicles were low enough for me to place my hands on its top to pull myself. However be ready with tissues as most Chinese toilets do not have tissues nor bidets.
We stayed overnight at Auspicious Hotel at Changping after walking the Mutianyu part of the Great Wall of China. This hotel is truly classic. Its decor and structure is like that of a by-gone era. The era of emperors and empresses, concubines and eunuchs.
Receptionist wear costumes of an ancient Chinese era. The reception area opens into a palace-like courtyard. Many classical and traditional furniture decorated the hotel making photography ideal.
Our rooms had antique chests, tables and wardrobes. Great effort was made to preserve the classical atmosphere of old China.
Perhaps the most interesting feature of the Auspicious Hotel was that it faced a huge open space opposite the road. Crossing the road was tricky because we had to look right, look left and look right again to avoid bicycles on the bicycle lanes, buses on the bus lanes and cars on the car lanes. Chinese drivers drive on the left side and most of them drive like Malaysians!
We saw to our amazement many Chinese doing simple exercise to music in this open space, children roller skating, men playing a type of Chinese chess. Certain parts of this space was like an open-air gym!
No wonder Chinese people are so fit and dominate the Olympics and sports events. Their culture is a culture of exercise from the very young to the very old!
34 types of exercise equipment dotted the landscape of this park. Yes, exercise equipment like what you can find in a gym though of a more rudimentary nature and offering all kinds of exercises for every part of the body.
One can stand on a movable discs, hold on to a handle and twist and turn one's bodies as a form of exercise, climb onto a stationary bicycle and start cycling, climb onto a step-up equipment and start imitating a mountain climbing walk, stand on a swing-like structure and start swinging, lean against a circular contraption and hold on to handles with both hands and start moving in circles, lie down on a bed-like equipment and start pulling oneself up and down, play table tennis on several tables set up in the park, play Chinese sepak takraw with shuttlecocks with huge feathers, play Chinese tops with strings, sword-plays, fan-plays and line dancing....
The group dancing/exercise in the open air gym continues in the morning with many homemakers, elderly folks and even office workers dressed in their office clothes exercising on the various exercise machines in the park!
I have never seen anything like it!
China is indeed a nation of fit people. Come to think of it I did not see a single overweight person the whole time I was in China.
Apparently this kind of exercise equipment is found all over the various parks and open areas in China cities and towns.
Later at night we had a palace banquet at the Hotel. A feast fit for emperors no doubt. We had a young lady entertained us playing a typical Chinese instrument, a young man doing the opera-like mask changing act and another young man performing a modern magic show.
At night we were given vouchers to visit the Dazhaimen SPA located right in the hotel. The hot springs spa is really one of its kind.
Women go into the "Area of Women" and men into the "Area of Men".
However I did not stay long in the spa as it felt weird being the only person using the hotspring at about 9 pm!
I had a dream in this hotel. At night 3 figures from an ancient Chinese dynasty visited me in a dream. Petrified I shouted the name of JESUS and they immediately left. My mistake: I had not prayed for God to cleanse the hotel room before settling in which I would normally do before.
The following day I shared this with the Malaysian tour guide who told me of a weird experience she had the night before. A young lady approached her during the dinner and said that she belonged to our group although she had never seen her before. At about 3 am in the morning, she got a call from the security guard who said that someone was looking for her. He brought up the same lady wearing the same clothes to her room. The same question was asked of her i.e. whether the young lady belonged to our group or not. Of course she replied no and the security took her away.
I realized that I had to keep on praying in the Holy Spirit which I had been doing as much as I possibly can during the long bus journeys.
This is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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