Summer days are here.
Technically, it is still spring but it feels like summer has pushed it out of its way. In one of my old posts, I blogged about the frozen Houhai lake.
Below are pictures of how the lake looks like when the water is warm and enticing. The warm weather gives the lake an entire different look. The trees are no longer sleeping. There are more people on the streets. Kids are slurping down ice creams and shaved ice drinks. Lots of tourist rickshaws clog up the pathways.
One fine day, a month ago, saw me riding a bicycle around the lake and into the hutongs, having coffee on a rooftop bar and people watching.
I was in disbelief that the rock solid lake has thawed.
One can simply mistake the rooftop bars here for bars in Melbourne or somewhere else around the world. But the oriental backdrop with the distinguishable Chinese roof tiles with splashes of green and red is a sure reminder that I’m back in old China. I love it.
I forgot to ask the waiter to remove the whip cream from my mocha. I don’t know why but mochas here are always served with whip cream. I’ve never seen this done before in Melbourne. Is it an American thing?
I always love the playgrounds in Beijing. It is always teeming with life. Kids were hanging off monkey bars. Old men, wearing only their trunks, went swimming in the lake. Old women do stretching exercises around the playground. There are even manual elliptical machines, FOC. Who needs the gym? Also, there are table tennis tables free for all to use. All you need to do is to set up your net, and you’re ready to go. The government never forgets to exercise its citizens’ minds too. There are marble tables with large abacus sets attached to them. I believe that locals play abacus games with them.
During that day, there were a few young girls giving a ‘guzhen’ performance. The ‘guzhen’ is an old Chinese string instrument.
I guess when most of a city’s population live in apartments and do not have their own backyards to play in, this is what you get – a bustling playground life!
littlemisstrotter 