To be a early bird, you are cable to catch the morning life of the locals. Beijing in the morning is just like a huge sports ground. Every morning Beijing find as many as about 120,000 local residents participate in various public activities in almost all Beijing parks and other gathering places such as the open places under the overpasses. The activities range from running, jogging, singing, dancing, to Chinese calligraphy written on the ground with big brushes and Taiji accompanied by classic music.

With a growth rate of 5.3 percent per year in a city of nearly 15 million, Beijingers 65 and older are in good company, and in good shape. And they're finding each other in early-morning visits to the capital's many public parks, where they turn out in droves to exercise and socialize.

Amid rapid redevelopment and the increasingly frenzied preparations for the 2008 Olympics, Beijing is undergoing a process of urbanization that threatens, many say, to erase much of what has made the capital distinctive. As Beijing continues to reinvent itself and traditional neighborhoods disappear, a stroll through one of the city's parks reveals sides of a lively public life that may otherwise go unnoticed.

There is no better time to see the action than between 6 and 8 a.m., when residents of a particularly plucky stripe take to the city's many parks and green spaces to stretch, walk, run, walk backward, slap their faces, pull their earlobes, or clap and chant in groups. People are generally out in the hundreds, and their ranks swell more in summer.

For a fine morning in Beijing, spend an hour or two walking through any of the parks outlined here, then tuck into a breakfast of steamed buns, dumplings or rice porridge at any of the small eateries clustered around the main park entrances. Most park-goers, like most of Beijing, speak only Mandarin Chinese. For non-Chinese speakers, by the help of our private guide, you will have the opportunity to watch and even take part in these games. Also, a few of the locals can make a demonstration of the sport and allow you to join the game.

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