Tai Chi in the Watermelon-Statue Park, Daxing

The rural suburb of Beijing, Daxing, is still sleepy and undiscovered by foreigners–though i’m told the largest airport in China is scheduled to open in this area a few years from now.  Until then, despite its center  filled with shops and markets, restaurants and street foods in the dizzying way so much of China is, Daxing is famous for one thing: watermelons. Sweet and juicy, in season, the melons are everywhere. I visited end of May start of June and pretty sure I didn’t have a different  fruit during my stay–nor a meal without melon.

Its fine with me however, more than fine: when the weather is hot and sultry: nothing prevents my own inner melt-down than juicy, cool melon.

This capital of watermelon takes its title seriously, with a variety of watermelon destinations: an AMAZING museum, farms for visiting, even theme parks.

Possibly the most charming melon-themed location, though, was one I didn’t even know about ahead of time: a local municipal park. Right across from my hotel.

The first morning I awoke, jetlagged, I headed out for a walk and discovered it. Not large, but there are green grassy patches, winding paths, and large paved areas for excercise. A few days later I discovered group calasthenics at a fairly challenging level, each participant seemingly synchronized in their keep-fit regime.

But earlier in the morning, around sunrise, the park was full of people doing Tai Chi. especially older people: socializing, stretching, doing group tai-chi, separate excercize practicing, and simply walking their grandbabies over to watch.

And among all this sociable activity were, scattered throughout the park, beautiful watermelon sculptures.