Monday, January 25, 2010

How To Enjoy a Foggy Morning















Click the pix for larger picture.

After finishing my last business for the semester the other morning, I headed for the park. It was foggy, a little cool, and a little deserted in the upper reaches. It's sometimes hard to believe that this place is surrounded by a city of seven million people. I could hear a man singing, accompanied by an erhu, a two stringed violin. It was coming from an old building. I wandered over there and found the pair inside the open courtyard. They let me listen and take a little video. I later came upon a man playing bamboo flute.
There are a lot of musicians that enjoy this park, and the music carries across the lake. It is wondrous. The lower portions of the park have a few kids' rides, a dance cafe frequented by seniors, and a museum. There are usually more than a few people there. In the morning the dance cafe has modern music blaring, and further down the way there are people playing traditional opera. There are also several groups of exercisers from Tai Chi to aerobics and all have their own tunes going. If you stand at just the right place, you can get a great mix of techno, Hall and Oates, and Beijing opera, with an occasional country western piece.
It's during the later morning and afternoons when the loud people have gone home, that the magic happens.