Every morning the park across the street is full from before 7am (when I show up) until after 8 with people exercising. There’s lots of tai-chi, low-impact aerobics set to music (everything from traditional Chinese to cheesy primary school synth to sassy Britney Spears-ish Taiwan pop), ball-room dancng classes, dog-walking, and countless individuals doing their own personal exercise regimen – much of which we didn’t recognize as exercise at first (the tire pictures are a great example, as are the ingenious ways people try to stimulate circulation by repeatedly slapping themselves or rubbing their legs/arms/shoulders/backs/heads/necks/butts against trees and metal poles). All this not counting the old folks yaking it up and the kids shooting hoops.

Exercise a big part of life here that we see everyday, and is one place where the worldview differences between the Taiwan and the West become apparent. Exercise for us is entirely a biological/emotional enterprise; for the Chinese their concepts of ‘health’ and ‘wellness’ include a spiritual component that is manifest in how they exercise. Tai-chi aside, much of the other physical exercise reflects these beliefs, like by activating certain pressure points in the step-aerobic choreography.

Scroll down to read or write comments!