Morning Stroll

This is a complete contrast to yesterday. Our first meeting was at 9am so we took the chance to walk around West Lake, in downtown Hangzhou. The lake was quiet and still, with early morning Tai Chi, Chinese broadswords, Kung Fu, water calligraphy, ballroom dancing and roller blading. All mixed into one.

The west seemed staid and dull, after walking around the lake. People of all ages were out exercising and enjoying the company of friends, something you would never see at home.

There was an old guy, maybe seventy, practising martial arts with a bamboo staff. He pivoted, thrust, blocked and struck in midair to morning shadows before jumping high off the ground in a spinning turn to land perfectly on one foot.

Further on, a causeway drifted off into the mist. People crossed back and forth on their way to work.

We climbed up to a pagoda on steps then along a ridge on a path worn smooth by two millenia of human feet.

Magic.