Exercising, the Chinese way….

Chinese culture seems to be obsessed with food, consumption and over-snacking, so how do they keep themselves on the whole (fairly) healthy? A recent visit led me to observe how they integrate activity and movement into their daily routines, but in some very curious ways indeed...

The Chinese have always been passionate about healthy living, natural remedies (as well as pseudo natural ones), and many superfoods such as goji berries, shitake mushrooms, soya beans, seaweed and so on, have long been used in the far east before becoming fashionable in the West. It’s no wonder then that they are so conscious about maintaining their bodies healthy, and yet they are proud of their overwhelming culinary heritage – obsessively so too. Everything evolves around food – from social gatherings (the greeting here is ‘hello, have you eaten’) to cultural visits -no temple, shrine, ancient town or historical area comes without an array of places to eat, and each town has its own local ‘speciality’ – usually just another version of a small flaky pastry made with a different filling (red bean, sesame, lotus seeds, pineapple) or something similar. Again, any festivity is often just another occasion to buy, make, give and be given beautifully packaged boxes of cakes, fruits, sweets and the like.

This just highlights the fact that the Chinese – and here, the Taiwanese- are simply food lovers, perfecting themselves in the art of buying, giving and eating. Over and over again, throughout the day, weeks, months and years. So how do they still stay so seemingly healthy? And why is their way of exercising so amusing to western eyes like mine?

The most noticeable feature is the unashamed use of public spaces to stretch and move. From outdoor movement and dance groups, to simple routine exercises, most of my observations point to a lack of shyness in doing silly things in public – or at least things which we in the West would deem as silly. How often would you see groups of people walking around a 100 sq ft public square 20 times, just to keep fit? Or shaking their arms out while power walking with slippers on? The funny thing is that all this is taken very seriously. Speed walking, limb shaking and tension releasing is definitely not a laughing matter out there. It’s just normal. So normal in fact that I would be nearly tempted to join in - given another few weeks, I may just blend in and give it a go.

There is also some irony to all this – as much as many people in Taiwan do make the effort to go out, take their bikes, put on their shiny running shoes and spend time outdoors, it seems a lot do so only half heartedly. 9 out of 10 cyclists just ‘cruise’ along at a ridiculously slow pace (see picture above), and most ‘joggers’ really only just power walk. I’m not an athlete, but I can certainly make a judgement on exercising efficiently.

Trend following is another example of interesting sporting habits: for instance, new cyclists feel the urge to buy all the ‘right’ gear and apparel from top to toe – lycra, gloves, glasses and speed counter included! They may certainly look the part, but yet they only use their bike on weekends, and most likely for a short and easy ride to the next noodle stall. Mind you, it’s still better than ordering a takeaway from the comfort of one’s sofa!

On the whole, there is one good lesson to be learnt - swapping evening television and customary drinking/socialising for evening walks and early nights is only beneficial.

But these days, mind/body activities such as Taichi and Qigong, are still mostly practiced by the older generation. At dawn and dusk, public parks and spaces fill up with –mostly retired- men and women doing their daily breathing, walking, or taichi, in the view of maintaining a healthy mind and body balance.

All in all, there is something quite appealing about the concept of trying to at least keep some kind of healthy balance between a passion for consumption and an aim for a long life. The Chinese are indeed efficient in all matters in life: from making money, and delighting their senses to making up for any superfluous indulgences.