Tai Ji—Chinese Style
Updated: 2010-10-19 08:30
By Cong Fangjun (chinadaily.com.cn)
A marathon competition? No. It's visitors running into the Shanghai Expo Park. In order to get into the Park as soon as possible, visitors lined up outside the park very early. And the scene you just saw takes place at 9 am every day.
Comparing with the rushing tourists, a group of relaxed elderly people is another scene in the Expo Park.
In the fresh breeze, they practice traditional Chinese Tai Ji with both the hard and the soft strength, and their Tai Ji show attracts a lot of spectators. The Tai Ji performance in October, which is one of the Chinese traditional quintessence, adds the Chinese style into the Expo Park.
Tai Ji is a martial art and also a sport for competition and fitness. It has a long history in China. It's originated from ancient shooting and sword techniques, compiling with our body structure and the way nature runs.
The movements of Taiji are both natural and elegant. You can feel the rhythm of music, the ideas of philosophy and the art of poems. In this high-class sport, sickness goes away and health comes.
Nowadays, people who practice Tai Ji are all over China. You can see Tai Ji fans in parks, on streets and in stadiums.
Tai Ji is also welcomed abroad. As a special Chinese national sport, it has attracted many foreign friends.
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