Life and Leisure

Because the night belongs to people

By Stuart Beaton (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-29 08:03

With the pleasant autumn nights upon us, my wife Ellen and I have taken to walking around the neighborhood we live in of an evening.

We're quite lucky that Tianjin Medical University is situated in an area dotted with small parks, and crisscrossed with canals and bridges, so our wandering takes us through quite a range of scenery.

Bats dart in and out of the pools of light cast by the overhead lamps, snapping up insects as they sail back into the darkness on silent wings. They captivate me with their unerring precision, they always catch their prey.

But what really fascinates me is the number of people sitting below them, oblivious to the acrobatics going on above their heads.

Tianjin has a vibrant street culture, which really seems to hit its stride only after night falls.

As dusk approaches, whole families leave their apartments and head outside, taking with them small stools and folding tables.

The men tend to gravitate towards poker games under the glaring sodium arcs, cards slapping down on worn felt topped tables, as hands are won and lost. Beer bottles are opened and drunk, peanuts shells form small mounds at their feet, as the cards are shuffled and dealt time and again.

Sometimes Chinese chess matches are taking place, and the pieces are slammed down on to the board with such passion that the other pieces jump into the air. The pace is always fast, with onlookers shouting advice at the players.

The older women near where we live have taken up knitting with a passion, and they sit around separate lights, needles clicking, passing gossip back and forth. There is always laughter in these groups, as if they don't have a care in the world.

Street vendors set up shop, placing a sheet or blanket on the ground, and displaying their various wares. Shoppers examine them using torches, and hectic bargaining often ensues.

Quite often, just outside the university gates, groups come to practice taichi, whilst other groups set up CD players and hold impromptu dance classes. Synchronised in the half-light, they look like figures from early Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies.

Within the university campus itself, families with young children come to teach them to ride bikes, or roller skate across the smooth tiled plaza - safe from accidents that might involve cars or scooters. As their children play the parents sit and watch, chatting gently with each other about their days.

Between the student dormitories, games of badminton are usually underway, even though the cooling breezes make the flight of the shuttlecocks erratic. Students also find quiet spots away from their crowded rooms to read and study, or to conduct discussions about courses and future plans.

This street culture was unknown to me before I came to live here. In Australia, people tend not to congregate in the streets, preferring to remain at home, or go to pubs or clubs. This is common across most of the countries I've lived and worked in - people stay at home.

It is this very vibrancy, the life after sunset that appeals to me: The idea that there is more to life than surrounding yourself with four walls, and remaining within them like a prisoner.

So, each night, we wander around, and soak up this very different lifestyle. Not only am I learning something new on each journey, it's also helping to lower my weight nicely!

China Daily

(China Daily 09/29/2010 page20)