We Will We Will ROCK YOU [with Ping Pong?!]

Note: This is a guest post, brought to you by the resident pain-
in-the-
ass partner (a.k.a. 'D').

Chinese people have strange ideas about fitness and exercise. This is the admittedly hasty conclusion that I've come to after living in (just) one city in China for (only) six months. Let me provide a few examples…

Ping Pong. Now, for the record, I rather enjoy Ping Pong. I try to play it once a week to improve my skills, have a little fun, and meet some new folks. But, as you may already realize, Table Tennis is regarded as the official sport of China; and (as you might suspect) they take it very seriously. Everyone in my office of a dozen or so co-workers "practices;" and some of my colleagues will not play Pong (as I call it) in public for fear of public humiliation over their poor playing ability. How do I know that this is the reason? Because they told me so! (Incidently, the title of this blog post comes from a recent TV commercial shown here in China featuring Pongers battling it out while the famous Queen tune cranks away in the background.) Also, on several occasions people here have told me that the reason why they play Pong is "…to keep fit."

Dancing in the Square. It seems that Chinese people like to congregate outdoors just about anywhere where there's sufficient space for ballroom-style dancing (e.g., city parks, parking lots, etc.). Thus far, we have only observed this activity at night and after dark; and it seems to be practiced much more by older folks. Another interesting feature of dancing in the square is that the participants tend to be same sex pairs. Sometimes, the ballroom-style dancing is replaced with another type of dancing (e.g., line dancing); and these same public spaces where the dancing occurs at night are also used for group Tai Chi practice in the morning.

Walking Plus. A very common fitness-related sight around these parts is women (of all ages) walking by themselves and older, opposite sex couples walking together. Now, you may not think that this sounds very unusual or especially very interesting, but . . . the thing of it is, they're not JUST walking rather they are very exuberantly engaged in some sort of self-flagellation as they walk. Yes, you read that last sentence correctly -- they are actually hitting themselves and they are
doing so with what appears to be considerable force! It is not clear to me (or RB) why they are doing this? To try and increase blood circulation? to stimulate the muscles? to break up fat? Who knows?! But it's damned interesting, eh? I should add that no part of their person seems to be spared the treatment – e.g., people will hit themselves in the arms, legs, belly, and even the face!

Gyms. The first few weeks that I was China I had a helluva time trying to find an actual gym. I say "actual gym" because there are many places purporting to be gyms that are not what I would call a gym. Let me share just a few examples. An outdoor swimming pool . . . a big open room filled with badminton nets…a closet containing just one very old, thin, and rusty bar loaded with very light sand-filled plastic weights…and, my personal favorite, a dark and dusty pool hall filled with nine billiards tables! [You should have seen how proud this fellow was when he showed me their 'gym' (aka pool hall).]

My Gym. Eventually, I did find a gym. It is poorly equipped indeed – e.g., only one cheap barbell and a total of around 450 lbs. pounds of plate weights . . . for the whole gym. But the staff is quite friendly and the atmosphere is pleasant enough, even jovial at times. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that the barbell holds up [it's bending already]. The picture above shows me with Mr. Wang, a member of the staff and resident gym rat. Believe it or not, he is about three times larger than the average Chinese guy.

Most of the staff of around ten people hangs out at the gym all the time, sometimes working out, sometimes playing Chinese board games, and sometimes working the desk or the CD player. Of course, they have Ping Pong tables in the back! Mr. Wang is teaching me a few new Pong tricks.


This is a photo of the sign that includes the name of the gym in English and Chinese behind the front desk at the gym where I work out. If you embiggen the picture, you can read the full name: Valuable Strength International Healthy Body Meeting.