Tiyu Lu
Well, the gang and I have moved ourselves from the far-away suburbs of Kai Yin. No more half-hour bus rides into town to get anything done, no more having to worry about getting any snacks or soda before the only store closes at 8pm, no more having to clear any visitors past an impressively gestapo security force. We are now living in Zhongshan proper, smack dab in the middle of downtown. To top it off, we're paying half the rent; 1300 yuan a month, about 200 dollars US.
We now live on the seventh floor of a building on Tiyu Lu, which translates to "Sports Road," named that because we are directly across the street from the Zhongshan People's Sports Center.
View from the front balcony:
I haven't seen much in the way of private gyms here in Zhongshan, probably because of this place. A stadium, a track an feild, several tennis and basketball courts, an indoor workout center, a giant open blacktop for Tai Chi, and even a set of outdoor workout equipment that look like a cross between a Bally's and a gradeschool playground.
I have not yet taken the time to visit this area for two reasons, a) I still feel self conscious when mixing with the locals, as no matter what I am doing they look at me like I'm a monkey trying to use a speak-and-spell, and b) I live on the seventh floor of a building with no elevator.
But, it seems like this is the place to go for any sort of physical training. For instance, every morning at 7am sharp the local People's Security go out into the feild to run drills with their riot gear.
When I first moved here to China, I was a little dissapointed. I had always had an image in my mind as to what life was like here; rustic, minimalized, a nation-wide no-frills community. I didn't get that in Kai Yin, where the towns wealthiest people chose to live. It was almost exactly like living in an American Retirement community in California or Florida. I had become worried that I had missed out on Authentic Chinese Living. The recent opening of Western Trade to China has caused a serious change to China's culture, and I was sure that all things "China" had already taken their leave by the time I had gotten here.
I was wrong. Upon moving into my new room, I discovered that I have my own private balcony that looks out over the allyway behind our building. It looks exactly like the China I had always imagined.
We now live on the seventh floor of a building on Tiyu Lu, which translates to "Sports Road," named that because we are directly across the street from the Zhongshan People's Sports Center.
View from the front balcony:
I haven't seen much in the way of private gyms here in Zhongshan, probably because of this place. A stadium, a track an feild, several tennis and basketball courts, an indoor workout center, a giant open blacktop for Tai Chi, and even a set of outdoor workout equipment that look like a cross between a Bally's and a gradeschool playground.
I have not yet taken the time to visit this area for two reasons, a) I still feel self conscious when mixing with the locals, as no matter what I am doing they look at me like I'm a monkey trying to use a speak-and-spell, and b) I live on the seventh floor of a building with no elevator.
But, it seems like this is the place to go for any sort of physical training. For instance, every morning at 7am sharp the local People's Security go out into the feild to run drills with their riot gear.
When I first moved here to China, I was a little dissapointed. I had always had an image in my mind as to what life was like here; rustic, minimalized, a nation-wide no-frills community. I didn't get that in Kai Yin, where the towns wealthiest people chose to live. It was almost exactly like living in an American Retirement community in California or Florida. I had become worried that I had missed out on Authentic Chinese Living. The recent opening of Western Trade to China has caused a serious change to China's culture, and I was sure that all things "China" had already taken their leave by the time I had gotten here.
I was wrong. Upon moving into my new room, I discovered that I have my own private balcony that looks out over the allyway behind our building. It looks exactly like the China I had always imagined.
posted by The Infinite Jester at 2:07 AM
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