It’s a new week and I’m beginning to look for new places to visit. The time before we leave Beijing is narrowing, and I need to make sure I see everything I want to. If I find something especially good, I can bring Judy back on a weekend.
A couple of times lately, I’ve driven by Ditan Park in a taxi on my way to catch the train at Yonghegong Station. It looks like a nice park and lots of people are out playing badminton and dancing when I’ve gone by at 6:45 am. The weather is nice today, cool but not cold. After my morning ritual of working, swimming, and eating lunch, I jumped on the bike and headed over.
Ditan Park is the home of the “Temple of Earth”. Today is still part of the official Chinese Qingming Festival holiday. The Chinese schools are dismissed today. There are lots of people in the park, musicians, dancers, kites, and just people walking around. I made my way into the Temple of Earth. It’s not the most exciting site to visit. It’s where sacrifices were held, so there is no building, just a really large raised deck surrounded by open space for all the emperor’s underlings.
TEMPLE OF EARTH VIDEO LINK:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zblvwouy28j54ne/15.4.6.Temple%20of%20Earth.MOV?dl=0
As I was leaving the area, I noticed a secluded area with some kind of artificial turf. As I got closer I realized it was a large croquet court (actually several courts). I watched a little while. I’ve never seen an official croquet court, and I certainly never expected to see one in Beijing. There’s always a surprise around the corner in Beijing.
CROCQUET COURT VIDEO:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/m98zyjxwsjn3jwl/15.4.6.Ditan%20Croquet.MOV?dl=0
In my search for an indoor table tennis area, I had noticed a site on a map near Ditan Park listed as a “table tennis training area”, so I rode over to the Ditan Sports Park and began looking for it. The sports park is huge. Lots of basketball courts, outdoor and indoor. There is large track and soccer field. As I was wandering around looking for the table tennis area, I wandered into a large basement area with lots of really good young gymnasts. I also found the wrestling area. I finally had to ask about the pingpong area, and was directed to another building.
I found the building, went down the stairs to a darkened basement area, through a door with no sign, and “lo and behold”, a large table tennis training area. There were thirty really good tables, and really nice cushioned flooring with portable dividers for sectioning the playing areas. There was one table where a man was just beginning to teach a lesson. I watched the lesson, curious how he structured his approach. It was methodical, beginning with lots of repetition of basic forehands and backhands. As the lesson progressed he began to combine shots, backhand slice to forehand topspin, etc. I enjoyed watching.
As the lesson finished, I decided to see if I could work out some lessons for myself. What could it hurt? I had been carrying my table tennis equipment, in case I went by my regular TT club on the way home. Language was a problem, but the student who was finishing was able to translate well enough to help us arrive at a regular day and time for lessons. I was even able to take a lesson right then, so I pulled out my stuff, and he began to work me over. He made a few adjustments in both my forehand and backhand, but it wasn’t major, and I was improving as we finished an hour later. I’m looking forward to next Monday at 6:00 pm.