There's a lovely place to go if you want to get away from the city's noise and concrete: Kowloon Park. It's like Central Park, placed right in the middle of one of the busiest commercial areas of Hong Kong. Fountains, koi ponds, gardens, sculptures, a swimming pool, and an aviary are scattered throughout the park, connected by walking paths.I almost missed it the first time I went there, because you have to look up to see the entrance -- it's at the top of these stairs, which is next to the mosque:
Now, I'm not what you'd call a morning person, but I got up early to watch people practicing tai chi there. Fortunately I discovered that the definition of "early" here is not too bad, it's about 8:30 a.m. When I arrived, many people were just going through their warm-up exercises, while others were socializing or reading the newspaper.
I always thought tai chi was a silent exercise, but some groups were accompanied by traditional Chinese music.
Maybe I would have worked out more if my gym looked like this:
People practice tai chi everywhere in the park. I watched one man do his exercises right in the middle of a narrow sidewalk, with his bag laid carefully on top of the bushes beside him. People merely walked by, turning sideways and stepping around his outstretched arms.
I was getting hungry so I left to find the nearest Starbucks. It was a bit of a jolt to descend back down the steps, and into the noise of the streets and chaos of commuters spilling out of the MTR station on their way to work.
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