Early Morning in Xinzheng

This year I've decided not to care about people staring at me. I know that may seem like a rather silly thing to care about, but it has always bothered me while living in China. I can't say that I am completely indifferent about it now, but I am more willing to accept it. In making this decision, I feel that I have made some kind of progress in my battle against fear which will enable me to enjoy life here a whole lot more.

Just this past spring the city finished the majority of a pretty expansive park that runs along both sides of a giant reservoir. The mansions and dorms on the western side of Sias have easy access to one of the paths, which has made Sias an extension of the park in some ways. Though, truly, the campus has always been open to outsiders wanting to walk around and enjoy the gardens and scenery. In the past, I have stayed on campus when exercising. Today, when I got to the west side of campus, I took the path up to the street, over the bridge, and then down to the side of the reservoir along one of the many paths where a lot of people were up early trying to beat the 100 degree weather in today's forecast.

I walked and jogged and enjoyed watching several scenes: men fishing; women doing some kind of Chinese jazzercise; dogs swimming in the reservoir while their owners watched; elderly people walking with their grandchildren; and, today, one woman swimming with a small, round life saver which she was tugging along with a rope. This last scene surprised me because many Chinese people don't know how to swim, and my friends who made a bamboo raft last year were practically dragged out of the reservoir, raft and all, by the local police. Oh, and there are signs that say "no swimming" in Chinese and English. (But I've learned that a lot of people ignore signs here just like they do in other parts of the world - oh, human nature!)

Of course the "natural" scenery is always pleasant: lotus plants reaching up through the water, broad leaves open with flowers beginning to bloom; various trees and bushes in all the right places along the path; pavilions aesthetically placed between the two shores; and the still water reflecting the sky and everything else around it. It is a place I don't think I could get tired of.