Chilly in China

So we arrived in Beijing China yesterday (Saturday) to some really cold weather.  Like sixteen degrees, with a strong breeze, which of course makes it feel colder.  Anyway, we made our way to our Hotel safe and sound but rather tired.  With a decent night's sleep, we set out this morning to explore Beijing.  We've been here before, but it's been a long time and China has really changed.  

How has China changed?  The first time we came in 1984, we were among the first to visit the newly opened country, and things were not very well developed.  I have to be careful how I describe things because ... well, let's just say the internet here is not completely unrestricted.  Anyway, we were here thirty years ago, and then fifteen years ago, and what a difference!  Wow, China has a rather affluent middle class, as compare to the early days of "limited resources".

So we set out on our walk from the area we are staying to the downtown core.  Part of the goal was to walk along the shore of a lake that runs through part of the middle of Beijing.  We envisioned a walk along a serene body of water with mellow views of the city beyond and ducks paddling among willow trees.

Imagine our surprise when we got encountered the lake ... and it was frozen solid.  (did I mention it is cold here?)

 

There were thousands of people - this is China after all - and they were ice skating, speed skating, with full on hockey games going on.  It was an incredible scene.  But one of the most amazing things we saw was that ... they seem to have a habit of ... how do I describe this? ... they sit on chairs and "skate" around the ice.  

I've heard of, and seen a lot of, ways to get around on ice, but sitting on chairs?  And, again, there were like several thousand Chinese people doing this.  It was a rather unexpected and ... weird.  They were having the time of their lives, and they weren't on skates, they were sitting on chairs, and using ski poles to move around.  I guess this is why you travel ... to see stuff like this.