You’re fat
Those are words that we’ve heard over and over these past 10 days. Only a few times were they aimed at us. This expression, although spoken in Mandarin, seems as common as “you haven’t changed a bit.” Except they mean it. Of course there are no hard feelings involved; it’s not like they’re insulting one another.
The caveat though is that it’s ok for men to be fat. It’s not ok for women, especially young single women. Boys like slim girls. Girls don’t really have a say since all boys are, by their own accord, fat. We’re not talking fat per the American definition of a BMI greater than 25; aim way lower than that. This message is also heavily reinforced in ads and on T.V.: infomercials have arrived. One sells the wonder of a new invention in shoe insoles; it makes walking around the city even more fun. This means less time at the gym.
To be fair, Beijing, walking and cycling go hand in hand. I wouldn’t fill ill at ease walking from here to downtown; something I couldn’t say about Seattle. While cars have become popular, I’d probably get downtown faster cycling at a sedate pace (as the book puts it) than driving. Thus most people here get some exercise daily. They also don’t need special expensive sports gear to practice these. The average bike here is a clunker and anything more expensive would probably get stolen quickly. There are also very few sports equipment stores. We found some in the luxury shopping center as S was looking for comfortable sandals.
The ubiquity of walking may also explain why we’ve seen so few athletic centers. Why workout if you walk 5 to 8 miles every day. I noticed a few days back from our hotel room, that there’s a recreational area right across the alley behind the hotel. It has two tennis courts and two basketball courts. I’ve yet to see someone use them. Which brings us to the picture. These exercise devices are very similar to the ones in modern gyms back home. You might say they’re primitive versions (and they are) but they get the job done for those who don’t walk daily. We’ve seen plenty of grand-parents and mothers will toddlers using them. They can be found throughout the city next to the new apartment buildings.