BEAUTIFUL BEIJING

Today I learnt a new word in Chinese.. piao liang which means beautiful. Now how, you may ask I learnt this word? Was it in my Mandarin class? Maybe I looked it up in an English-Chinese dictionary? Neither is the truth and what happened is an entirely beautiful story in itself. Today after class, a few friends and myself decided to hop onto the subway and go down to the Silk market. For those who don't know, this is basically a giant mall with the world's smallest shops that sell knock off designer purses, shoes, clothes, etc. We wandered around for a few hours and practiced our bartering skills and then decided to hop back onto the subway and stop off in a new neighbourhood to find a Peking duck restaurant. After searching around and finding a quaint restaurant and enjoying a delicious meal we decided that we would just walk to the next subway stop rather that take the subway there. On the way we stumbled upon what I have decided is one of Beijing's true gems. It was a park with traditional architectural buildings and a neat little pond. We wandered in and past elderly men and women performing tai chi, young couples enjoying the romantic setting, and young children laughing and playing and heard music coming from somewhere in the distance. Out of curiosity we followed the sound and stumbled upon the most wonderful sight! Hundreds of people dancing, some in a line dance (with a ballet style for slow songs and salsa like for fast ones) and others with partners freestyling. People young and old, some who knew the steps by heart and others who were learning as they went were sharing this joy and I instantly had to join in. I left my belongings with a friend and joined in beside an elderly women who looked like she was quite the veteran at the routine and followed her lead. I quickly picked up the steps and was dancing along with all these strangers while having a smile permanently glued to my face and my heart racing 90 miles a minute! It was the most amazing feeling I have ever felt, dancing and feeling so free and so connected to the people around me in a city of 20 million people! The elderly woman I was dancing along with was so beautiful and graceful as she moved and the moment that her and I shared dancing side by side, regardless of difference in age, language, and culture was really something special. After dancing with her for a few songs I went up and in Chinese said hello and thank you, and shook her hand. I also said beautiful in English because I didn't know the chinese equivalent. She looked at me smiling and replied "Yes, beautiful means piao liang" What a special moment to share with a complete stranger. I honestly couldn't thank this old woman enough. She didn't just teach me steps to a dance or a new word for my mandarin vocabulary, she gave me a sense of pure exhilaration. I haven't danced with that much heart in a very long time and it just felt so refreshing! Experiencing this today has just reminded me of why I came to China and made me very glad that I decided to take the plunge into the unknown, as I am already being greatly rewarded for doing so.