An Introduction to Chinese Medicine and ExerciseChinese Medicine In all its forms, Chinese medicine is holistic - it considers the whole body (and mind). It sees diseases as symptoms of lack of balance in some aspect of the whole and seeks to bring the body back to harmony. Indeed, the word dis-ease simply means 'not at ease'. When the father of western medicine, Hippocrates, declared 'Let food be your medicine', he was very much in line with Chinese thinking. However, science, with its focus on reductionist logic, has led to a reliance on drugs which are intended to be direct fixes but which actually often further disturb the body's carefully balanced systems producing side effects. Further, drug-based medicine often addresses only symptoms and not underlying causes. Exercise In China, exercise is everywhere - an important part of Chinese culture through the philosophical foundations of Chinese thought that emphasise the harmony of body and mind. Hence, exercise is not just exercise in the western sense, often it involves a spiritual or mental side as in the martial arts and QiGong. Balance (control) and suppleness are prized as much, if not more, than strength and stamina. This is seen beautifully in Chinese acrobatics. The primary concept in the spiritual / mental dimension to native Chinese exercises is to achieve harmony of one's Qi. Qi is the flow of energy or life-force in the body, heaven and all living things - an ancient Taoist notion. Schoolchildren, and many workers, begin the day with 15 minutes of exercise. Ping Pong Although the name sounds Chinese, 'Ping Pong' probably was coined because of the sound the ball makes when hit near and far (by oneself and your opponent). The exact origins are obscure but Ping Pong (Table Tennis) has been popular across the world, especially so in China, Japan and Korea. China has had great success internationally at Ping Pong but it is its popularity among ordinary people that has given it a place in Chinese Culture. Ping Pong tables are commonly found in parks and other outdoor spaces. If you stop to have a look you may well be invited to a game!
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Sailing along the Li River and YuLong River, among beautiful karst mountain peaks ...
Bonus films - starting with 'Let life be beautiful' ...
Sung by Alu Azhou and the Mountain Wind Group 阿鲁阿卓, 山风组合 生如夏花.
Inspired by Stray Birds by famous Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore, 1916 (生如夏花之绚烂，死如秋叶之静美 --飞鸟集, 泰戈尔, 1916). Lyrics and Music by PU Shu (朴树).
"In this life, we can not stay so long ..."
Plus, heading to the northern grasslands, Song of the Surging Water - title song of the 2015 movie Wolf Totem 汪峰 沧浪之歌（《狼图腾》主题曲）. Sung by Wang Feng.
Lyrics by WANG Feng (汪峰); music by Adam HUANG (HUANG Yong, 黄勇); with Alianuul (Morin Khuur solo) and NING FangLiang (violin solo).
"I am broken, but I love flying ..."
We are not here so long - let each day be full of love and beauty ...
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BeiHai Park, JingShan Park and YuanMingYuan (Old Summer Palace).
With Walk East ...
Bonus film - The Temple of Heaven / TianTan - with Walk For You ...
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With Walk East ...
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As in Tibet, BeiJing (89), and XinJiang, violent separatists have been created, aided and spurred on by the West. Rational protests were hijacked by foreign powers and their proxies. This is all about trying to undermine China, to keep it down. None worked, but now they are doubling down. This is what the US has and still does the world over. Central and south america, Africa and Asia, never allowed to fulfill their potential; coups and wars always snuffing out the possibilities. Even in Europe and the Middle East, as we see today.
Fact : Hong Kong people never had the right to vote for their leaders under UK rule; not until China took back the reign from British colonial power.
Thanks to the National Security Law, peace has finally returned to Hong Kong after a year of destructive riots and terror that wrecked Hong Kong's international image and economy.
To China, the people of Hong Kong are family. To the West, they are just pawns in trying to bring down all of China and its people.
With Cyrus Janssen ...
YT comment : "The colonizer not only colonizes territory, they also colonize the local people's minds, through promoting their own culture over theirs, and also by devising education systems to inculcate their values into the local children. Even after the colonizer leaves, the minds of the people often remain enslaved and loyal to their former masters. This "colonial mentality" remains predominate in Hong Kong, India, the Philippines and other former colonies. Many in Hong Kong (though not all) tend to have the colonial mentality. Colonial mentality is the internalized perception of ethnic or cultural inferiority felt by people as a result of colonization. Such people tend to display a preference for the cultures of the Anglo-Saxons, while harboring a disdain for any "non-Anglo" culture, including their own! Hong Kong people had to bow to the British and stand for their National Anthem. They were treated as second rate citizens."
"'You are free to agree, but not free to differ on the official truth'."
"The ultimate hypocrisy is the UK supporting 'democracy' for HK when they never introduced it in all the 152 years of colonial rule. In 1967, HK anti colonial protests ended in the shooting of civilians, and I remember being teargassed in our apartment as a child. Young HK people need to learn from history. Foreign interference is anathema to any country."
"'Any country that is not a slave is our enemy' - the US"
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"ShuHe Ancient Town, known as "ShaoWu" in NaXi language, was formed by the JuBao Mountain behind the village, which is shaped like a pile of peaks. It is also an important well-preserved market town on the Ancient Tea-Horse Road, a living specimen of the NaXi ancestors’ transition from farming civilization to commercial civilization, and a model of market town construction formed by opening up to the outside world and caravan activities. ShuHe Ancient Town, BaiSha Ancient Town and DaYan Ancient Town together form the World Heritage Site of LiJiang Ancient Town.
Xu XiaKe once passed by ShuHe River when he visited JieTuo Forest in ZhiShan. "Ten Harmonies" is the ancient name of today's ShuHe."
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